E.M.T. at Fertilizer Plant Blast Faces Charge of Possessing Bomb Parts
By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS and MANNY FERNANDEZ
Published: May 10, 2013
Texas authorities said on Friday that they had opened a criminal
investigation into last month's deadly explosion at a fertilizer plant that
killed 14 people and injured some 200 others.
The announcement came hours after a paramedic who responded to the explosion
was arrested on a charge of possessing the components of a pipe bomb, though
law enforcement officials declined to say whether the charge was related to
the blast.
Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said he
had directed the Texas Rangers to work with the McLennan County sheriff's
office to conduct the criminal inquiry, which comes more than three weeks
after the explosion at the West Fertilizer Company plant outside West, Tex.,
about 20 miles north of Waco.
"This disaster has severely impacted the community of West, and we want to
ensure that no stone goes unturned and that all the facts related to this
incident are uncovered," Mr. McCraw said in a statement on Friday.
Earlier Friday, Bryce Reed, 31, an emergency medical technician who has said
he helped evacuate people after the April 17 blast, was taken into federal
custody, according to the United States attorney's office.
Mr. Reed appeared briefly in federal court in Waco on Friday but did not
enter a plea, the authorities said.
An affadavit sworn out by Douglas J. Kunze, a special agent with the Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said the authorities had found
the parts of a pipe bomb, including potassium nitrate powder, which is used
in fertilizers and gunpowder.
Though Mr. Reed was not in possession of the materials, he admitted to
having possessed them, according to the affadavit.
Investigators have said the explosion was caused by ammonium nitrate, which
was being stored at the fertilizer plant, but have not said whether a fire
that preceded the blast had ignited the chemical. Ammonium nitrate, which is
commonly used as a fertilizer, is difficult to ignite if handled carefully
and properly stored, but it has also been used in a number of terrorist
attacks, including the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
The Texas explosion, so powerful that the United States Geological Survey
measured it as a 2.1-magnitude earthquake, left a trail of devastation over
a wide area.
The Texas fire marshal's office, which has been investigating the case along
with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, has
not said whether the fire appeared to have been accidental or intentionally
set.
Mr. Reed spoke to various news organizations after the explosion and gave a
videotaped eulogy at a memorial service for victims that was attended by
President Obama. His Facebook page indicated that he had been criticized for
seeking publicity and also pointed to personal problems.
In a posting dated May 7, he referred to Cyrus Reed, a paramedic who died in
the explosion, as his brother, because of their close friendship.
"I have not been paid by the media, by press, I made nothing for delivering
my brothers eulogy, and made nothing off of this tragedy," Bryce Reed wrote.
"I was a shoulder to cry on, I found a great new family, and was blessed to
get to tell them about their son. This is not about me!!! It is about 12
heros that died to save lives!!!!!"
The message continued: "I loved and still love Cyrus A. Reed, and he loved
me. I did and will do what I thought was right. Was I emotionally
devistated? Hell yes I was. Have your brother die, your town explode, your
crew be emotionally wrecked, and in the midst of it have your wife leave you
because you are lost in your own emotions: All in the same week, and see how
you fare. People I am doing my best to hold myself together, but please for
the love of God quit picking me apart. I have to bury yet another friend
tomorrow. God Bless."
At the April 25 memorial service in Waco, videos in which relatives of the
victims recalled the lives of those who died were played for the audience.
One of those eulogies was given by a man who identified himself as Cyrus
Reed's brother - later identified as Bryce Reed - and it was powerful and
poetic. (Members of Cyrus Reed's family have subsequently said that the two
were not related.)
"In death, we focus on the day one was born and the day they pass," Bryce
Reed said. "The only representation of a profound life lived on a marble
marker is the dash which resides between the two dates. My brother lived his
dash. He lived as a man with a passion and a zeal for life which could not
be contained and was contagious to all who knew him. Cy's dash should extend
well past any length that marble could ever contain."
He added: "My brother would disagree, but I firmly believe that all privy to
this incident can attest - that my brother, and all those who lay with him -
are heroes now and forever. I would like you all to learn from my brother."
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