Houston fire chief speaks out about Astroworld concert tragedy

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Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña told NBC's "TODAY" show that the chaos at Astroworld unfolded when "the crowd began to push towards the front to get as close to the stage as they could when Mr. Scott’s set began" 
He added: "And what was happening was the barricades that were placed to prevent that surge towards the stage in essence caused other areas of pinch points and as the crowd began to surge and push and compress towards the front it was those people in the center that began to get crushed and the injuries start to begin."
"We're still trying to determine what caused the crowd to begin that surge, but certainly we're looking at everything,"

Authorities declared a "mass casualty" event at the concert shortly after 9:30 p.m., the first patient treated by paramedics 2 minutes later after the private company that was providing the medical component became overwhelmed, but Scott kept playing for more than 30 minutes after that. 

Travis Scott and others should have stopped Friday's Astroworld music festival as soon as they became aware of a crowd surge
"We all have a responsibility. Everybody at that event has a responsibility starting from the artist on down," Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña said.

"There was evidence that the crowd itself was trying to approach some of their private security, some of their security that was closer to that stage, that something was wrong. At one point there was an ambulance trying to make its way through the crowd."

Peña addd that a performing artist has "command of that crowd."
"In my opinion, and this is my opinion right now because everything is going to be fleshed out throughout this investigation, but certainly, the artist, if he notices something that's going on, he can certainly pause that performance, turn on the lights and say, 'Hey we're not going to continue until this thing is resolved. That's one way to do it" 

When asked whether there was any reason to believe that Scott initiated the deadly crowd surge, Peña responded,
"No, not at this point. I am not prepared to say that he was fully aware of what was going on."

 "All I’m saying is that everybody at that event, from the artist on down, security, and everybody that’s there to provide public safety, including the crowds, right? In general, we all have a responsibility when we attend these venues to ensure each other’s safety. We're a community at these events."

"We really need to take a critical look at everything that went on there because we cannot have this happen again here in the city or anywhere"

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