NFPA Journal - Fall 2021 - 62

Perspectives
The metal ramp in Meron, Israel, that was the site of an April crowd
crush that killed 45 people. To avoid such incidents, the author
argues, event managers must account for " reasonably foreseeable
tribal behavior " that can put participants at risk.
a deep suspicion of outside authority. A rabbi who was
there accused police of putting up barriers that prevented
people from leaving through exits left open in previous
years. He held the government responsible for the deaths
of " beautiful holy Jews that were killed here for no reason
whatsoever, just to prove a point that they're in charge of
this place instead of the Orthodox Jews being in charge. "
With a collective belief in their own tribe and a deep
distrust of outsiders, thousands of people, facing a walk en
masse after midnight through a series of ramshackle structures
down a slippery metal slope with no usable handrails,
saw nothing and said nothing. In that situation, drawn to
that spot by their chosen leaders and surrounded by their
own tribe, who else would they trust?
The Lag B'Omer crowd crush stuck with me because it
fit a pattern for which I had no name. As a lawyer dealing
62 | NFPA JOURNAL * FALL 2021
with risk and safety at all kinds of live events, I am used to
the sense of invulnerability that leads fans to overconsume
controlled substances, to lean too far over railings, to not
pay attention to objects flying toward them, to neither see
hazards nor say anything about them when they do. Later,
during their lawsuits, they sometimes struggle to explain
why they behaved as they did, other than to observe that
everyone around them had acted in more or less the same
way. In other words, there is a tribal heedlessness of risks,
even though those risks might be obvious to a rational,
sober observer.
The blinders seem to come off once individuals leave
their collective environment. This is the paradox of " situational
awareness " : a person's level of awareness of their
surroundings depends on the circumstances. The Lag
B'Omer celebrants were aware of the bonfires and other

NFPA Journal - Fall 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - Fall 2021

Contents
NFPA Journal - Fall 2021 - Cover1
NFPA Journal - Fall 2021 - Cover2
NFPA Journal - Fall 2021 - 1
NFPA Journal - Fall 2021 - 2
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NFPA Journal - Fall 2021 - Contents
NFPA Journal - Fall 2021 - 5
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