More than 400 interviews have been conducted and more than $2 million spent on the ongoing probe, Elder said.
Advertisement
One of the people killed lived at the nursing home, while two of the people killed lived at an apartment complex; the other 12 people killed were emergency responders.
Up until today, investigators said there were three possible scenarios: faulty electrical wiring, a short circuit in an electrical golf cart, or an intentional act of arson. The force felt was equivalent to that of a magnitude-2.1 quake, and a 93-foot-wide crater scarred the site of the fertilizer plant, where risky chemicals, including ammonium nitrate, were stored.
The three-year investigation by numerous agencies ruled out all accidental or natural causes for the fire that sparked explosions that demolished much of West with the force equal to 20,000 pounds of TNT. “This means this fire was a criminal act”.
The site stored between 40 and 60 tons of the ammonium nitrate fertilizer. Fifteen people were killed when the fertilizer plant, which was already on fire, exploded.
No arrests have been made and they are still investigating who was responsible for the blaze.
A timeline laid out by federal investigators indicated that someone had called 911 to report a sign of fire at about 7:29 p.m.
The bureau is offering a $50,000 reward for information.
Authorities do not yet have a suspect, But Robert Elder, ATF special agent, said in a press conference the fire was intentionally set.
The April 17, 2013 blast also injured 300 people, destroyed more than 500 homes and left a crater 93 feet (28 meters) wide and 12 feet (3.7 meters) deep.
“I think it’s too early to speculate on murder charges”, Elder added.
In the months following the explosion, officials from a myriad of local, state, and federal agencies vowed to make changes that would decrease the odds that something like this could ever happen again, such as requiring companies to improve safety measures in general and especially how they store chemicals like ammonium nitrate. About 22 minutes later, an explosion occurred, sending a fireball almost 100 feet (30 m) into the air.
The mother of a volunteer firefighter who died in the massive 2013 plant explosion in West, Texas, says the state has taken steps to prevent a similar incident from happening again.
Advertisement
Matt Orwig, the former USA attorney for the Eastern District of Texas, said whatever the motive and charges, anyone convicted probably faces at least life imprisonment.
