At 5:55 a.m. April 19, 1993 FBI driven tanks began their assault on the Branch Davidian home and church Mount Carmel Center.   Bradley vehicles driven by FBI agents began delivering "liquid ferret tear gas rounds," i.e., gas grenades, into the underground tornado shelter. FBI agents alleged Davidians began firing on the tanks.  FBI opted to speed up delivery of gas and began launching first of 400 gas grenades into the building. Over the next four hours tanks tore large holes in the building and sprayed gas directly inside, smashed big holes in the front of the building and tore down half the gymnasium.

11:30 a.m.--tank brings down, and drives up on, the roof of the gymnasium.

11:40 a.m.--tanks smash into both the front door and the middle front of the building.

12:06 p.m.--Tank rips away part of the east front corner of exterior wall, ground floor level; boom smashes into second floor.  A few minutes later, from this section of the building, fire is seen.  Survivor Renos Avraam claims tank knocked down lantern in second floor room above where tank ripped away wall and started a fire. (Circled Number "1")
12:07:41 p.m.--Infrared video indicates first fire on second floor, east front.  During this time survivor David Thibodeau climbed up to the second floor above the chapel, by the front hall way and saw a fireball rush down that hall way towards the tower bedrooms and the stairwell down into the dining room.
12:08:11 p.m.--Infrared photo shows large fire already developed on dining room wall and tank sitting north of collapsed gymnasium roof.  News video shows tank west of dining room from which smoke is seen billowing.
12:08:17-22 p.m.--Infrared photograph shows two large flashes in end of dog run. (Circled Number "2") Survivor Derek Lovelock saw a fireball rush up from the back of the gymnasium towards the chapel.

12:15 p.m.--Fire quickly engulfing the building.

12:25 p.m.--Fire ball explodes as most of building is in flames.

During the fire: three to five tanks rammed away at the building, pushing incriminating evidence into the fire.

An un-named FBI agent to the left and chief negotiator Byron Sage to the left pose for photographs as Mount Carmel burns in the back ground.

Top Photo--As the result of the tank action, hundreds of pound of concrete feel from the ceiling of the concrete room, killing three women and six children before the fire from blunt trauma and suffocation.  (Though some suffocation may have been from the CS gas FBI pumped into the room.)  Also, note how the FBI dug out the guns and leaned them against the wall for dramatic effect.  One more example of their tampering with evidence.

For more information about the fire at Mount Carmel in Chapter 10 of The Davidian Massacre click here.