The Branch Davidians: Oh, My God, They're Killing Themselves!

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As the week progressed the FBI had to back off certain claims: that they had fresh evidence of child abuse, that they had actually seen a cult member lighting the fire, that some victims were shot by fellow Davidians for trying to flee. "The Justice Department is pressing emotional trigger buttons," charged Zimmerman, who had worked side by side with DeGuerin trying to end the standoff. "It's a public opinion-generated effort."

The survivors tell a harrowing story of the final hours. At noon, Avraam told his lawyer, "many of us were toward the front when a tank ran into a corner of the building and it basically collapsed. Then someone shouted, 'A fire has started!' The black smoke was intense. I couldn't see." Some speculated that the tanks punctured the propane tank barricading the door, sending flames speeding through a storage room full of gallon fuel containers for the lanterns, lighting the hay bales and other debris. Children and others in the outside rooms fled them for interior areas, but within minutes these were ablaze too. David Thibodeau, one of the Mighty Men, told his mother that he tried to run upstairs to get to the children, but the way was blocked. "People had no time to get out. The fire spread very fast," says Avraam, who escaped by diving out a window.

FBI agents who watched the hideous finale from ground zero adamantly dismiss the notion that they somehow started the inferno. "I saw three fires almost simultaneously," insists Sage. "There's no question but that it was not started by the tanks in front of building. That's ridiculous. I saw the tanks at different points from where the fires were." He, like others, had no choice but to stand and watch. "I can't tell you what was going through my heart," he says. "A combination of anguish, reflection and absolute anger for David Koresh. Because the bottom line here is that with complete and unthinking malice he had murdered all those people."

Officials at Justice braced themselves for the backbiting. Privately, counterterrorist experts in other branches made no bones about what they would have done differently. "I wouldn't have pumped gas in there," said one official, "and I wouldn't have called them first." Others charged that the mistake was not only in tactics, but in attitude. "This wasn't a normal hostage situation," said a Justice official. "Not only were they there, they were willing to do anything for this person." A congressional aide put it differently: "They acted like they thought they were talking to another bank robber. Instead, they were talking to someone who was dealing in a parallel universe."

Critics were especially blistering on the subject of the FBI's impatience. "When you look at this, I think you not only need to understand the psychology of cults but you need to understand the psychology of law < enforcement as well," said a congressional aide. "They had been challenged, more than four of their agents had been killed, there was the day-in, day-out appearance of impotence in a profession in which control is so important."