Saturday, May 11, 2013

E.M.T. at Fertilizer Plant Blast Faces Charge of Possessing Bomb Parts

 

E.M.T. at Fertilizer Plant Blast Faces Charge of Possessing Bomb Parts

By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS and MANNY FERNANDEZ

Published: May 10, 2013

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/11/us/west-tex-emt-faces-charges-of-having-bomb-parts.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

 

 

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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