West Blast Investigation Could Be Completed By May 10

and another thread about the arrest by ATF.

Thread: BREAKING - Arrest made in West Texas Explosion Connection
BREAKING - Arrest made in West Texas Explosion Connection

1st linked story is about Reed, but includes these 2 paragraphs last.
[link to www.kxan.com]

Since the blast, state and federal workers have sorted through much of the debris with rakes, shovels and by hand. The material they considered to be possible evidence was stacked atop blue tarps — "boneyards" — scattered over the site. The rest of the debris was trucked away.

The large crater left in the blast has been mapped, excavated with heavy equipment and raked through by investigators, Hoback said. It could provide clues to how much ammonium nitrate was on site and other details of the blast, officials have said.

1st article is about launching Texas Rangers Criminal investigation. Investigation began with 70, then increased to 80, and growing again. KVUE is carrying 2 stories in separate links.
[link to www.kvue.com]

[link to www.kvue.com]

arrested by the McLennan County Sheriff's Department on Thursday, May 9.

According to a federal complaint released by a U.S. District Court, officials were called to a home in Abbott, near West, on Wednesday, May 7, where they found components which could be used to make up a pipe bomb. At least eight different chemicals were found at the scene.

The resident in possession of the materials told authorities that they had been given the materials unwittingly from Reed in April.

McLennan County Sheriff's deputies then headed to West where they arrested Reed. He admitted to possessing bomb-making materials.

If convicted, SNIPPED He will have a detention hearing on May 15.

"Right now it's a separate thing.There are a lot of people jumping to conclusions. Right now there's nothing tying him to the explosion," Sheriff Parnell McNamara said.

[link to www.kens5.com]

One of Reed's neighbors, who spoke on a condition of anonymity, told KENS 5's sister station in Dallas that he reported Reed to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms because Reed claimed to have made a pipe bomb and took it to another home.

The KVUE and KENS5 article appear to have conflicting information, or was there more than 1 person directing officials to Reed? Is anyone else reading it the same way?

Next link is a side story, effect of ammonium nitrate TX facilities storage.
[link to www.keyetv.com]
After West Blast, Chemical Stockpiles Scrutinized

This keeps getting worse. Is he like some of the arson firefighters that start fires? Doesn't make sense though, and raises questions.

[link to www.wacotrib.com]

A sworn affidavit signed by an ATF special agent reports McLennan County sheriff’s deputies were called to an undisclosed residence in Abbott on Tuesday, where they discovered components that experts say could be used to make a pipe bomb, including a 3.5-by-1.5-inch galvanized pipe, and canisters containing a hobby fuse, a lighter, digital scale, plastic spoon and six coils of ribbon. Agents also found several pounds of bagged chemical powders, including potassium nitrate, aluminum powder, red iron oxide, ammonium perchlorate, potassium perchlorate, sulfur powder, air float charcoal and Eckart 10890 German Dark Aluminum, the court documents state.

An investigation determined that the unnamed resident at the home “had unwittingly taken possession of the components from Reed” on April 26. Reed has admitted to possessing the components of a pipe bomb to law enforcement officials, according to the affidavit.

[link to www.dallasnews.com]

Bryce Reed, who told The Dallas Morning News that he assumed radio command of the April 17 incident after the explosion killed his superiors and colleagues, was accused Friday of giving an “assortment of bomb making components” to an unnamed person in nearby Abbott on April 26, nine days after the explosion.

Also on Friday, West officials for the first time notified the state agency that licenses paramedics that Reed was let go two days after the blast, according to records obtained by The News. The emails do not explain his termination.

Dr. George Smith, medical director of West EMS, declined to comment late Friday afternoon as to why Reed was let go last month. West Police Chief James Lawhorn also declined to comment about the situation.

After answering the door at his Rockwall home Friday, Gary Nelson said he couldn’t believe the charges against his stepson. He said there is “not a chance” that Reed was involved in the deadly explosion.

“He's been tore up about it,” Nelson said, adding that the family is “100 percent behind him.”

But the sister of a firefighter Reed eulogized at a public memorial last month said she had to ask police to guard her deceased brother’s apartment because she feared Reed had been stealing from it since the blast.

But Sarah Reed, who is Cyrus Reed’s biological sister, said her family had been “fooled by Bryce Reed.” She said that her family let Bryce Reed eulogize their relative because he led them to believe that he and Cyrus Reed were very close.

Sarah Reed said she and her family have gone through Cyrus Reed's computer and cellphone records and have found that the two first responders might not have been as close as the suspect led the public to believe, she said.

Before his arrest, Bryce Reed had spoken to the media — including The Dallas Morning News and the Los Angeles Times — about his experience responding to the explosion. The News does not pay interview subjects and did not pay Reed.

Bryce Reed told The News that he was home with his wife on April 17 when they heard about a fire at the plant. He said the two drove through the residential streets north of downtown West and headed toward the plant. He said he saw Cyrus Reed’s truck at the plant and then drove away to help evacuate people who lived nearby.

Bryce Reed and his wife felt the boom from the explosion 10 seconds later, he told The News.

More information in the article. His wife has been refusing to give comments to media. Link to the criminal complaint.
[link to www.scribd.com]

Meant to add this earlier, but sidetracked myself.

[link to www.kxan.com]
dated May 7

The explosion occurred about 20 minutes after authorities were alerted to the fire. (out of article sequence. Including because I had been wondering, as some of the earlier articles said immediately, while others left it up in the air.)

They'll paint and mark off lines for the walls of each building at West Fertilizer, where an April 17 explosion killed at least 14 people. Then, they'll fly overhead to compare the lines to the crater.

That process will occur as investigators try to reconstruct whatever they can of the plant — from electrical wires to pieces of walls — in hopes of nailing down how ammonium nitrate detonated in a blast that sent debris flying through ceilings blocks away and registered as a small earthquake.

They had also slightly expanded the wall of one building rebuilt through pieces of debris and were planning to re-position power lines in their original locations on the site.

said Brian Hoback, a national response team supervisor for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. "But what you try to do is you try to reconstruct those things that are important to you in terms of origin and cause."

Honestly, decided to stop searching for more articles after the last one. Got bored so was reading through some San Antonio sites. Always curious as to what Zachry Construction is up to and below that article, this was listed. Article says much more than I've copied over. This one paints a picture I've not seen in other articles. When Reed went to court this morning, he did not enter a plea. Wonder if this reporter saw the coffee table speech, or an interviewee's memory...

[link to www.mysanantonio.com]

Three days after a massive explosion at a Texas fertilizer plant, Bryce Reed climbed onto a coffee table at a local hotel where displaced families picked over donated sweatshirts and pizza. Wearing a navy blue shirt emblazoned with "West EMS," he gathered the crowd close.

"You're safe where you're at," said Reed, describing an anhydrous ammonia leak inside the rubble at the West Fertilizer Co. plant. "If you're not, I'd be dragging you out of here myself."

Hearty applause echoed in the lobby when Reed stepped down. But no one had asked Reed to come, and in a town swarming with federal and state investigators — who had handled all the official briefings and tightly controlled updates — a local volunteer paramedic was now talking about seeping tanks at the blast site.

And now there's a question of whether Reed was even still a paramedic in West at the time.

Upon reaching the plant, Bryce Reed said, he saw Cyrus' truck, so he kept on driving because he was confident the firefighter could handle the call. Minutes later, the plant erupted in a fire ball.

Didn't think to check the writers, but read through the article again.

Associated Press Writers Ramit Plushnick-Masti in Houston, Danny Robbins in Dallas and Angela K. Brown in West contributed to this report.

In the sworn affidavit, it states sheriff deputies found galvanized pipe and canisters containing a hobby fuse (a tells me they found 1/one), a lighter, digital scale, plastic spoon, and six coils of ribbon (not stating the types of ribbon). Also found several pounds of bagged chemical powders, including potassium nitrate, aluminum powder, red iron oxide, ammonium perchlorate, potassium perchlorate, sulfur powder, air float charcoal, and Eckart 10890 German Dark Aluminum.

I asked my husband what he thought when he read the list. Most of those items are for amateur pyrotechnics and would have to be signed for. He's not a professional, just a love of chemistry that started in high school as a chem teachers assistant. If someone used a hobby fuse for lighting a pipebomb, they'd have to run like hell. Potassium nitrate, sulfur powder, and the charcoal make black powder, and does not make a pipebomb that would have much power. It is for fireworks made with paper and cardboard. Potassium perchlorate and sugar make smoke, like the smoke we see when we light the black snake fireworks. Depending on the type of ribbon, it could very well be for fireworks. Aluminum powder and red iron oxide mixed make thermite, but also used to make fireworks. Aluminum powder makes it burn bright white and fast.

The evening of the explosion, I watched some of the live coverage. The YNN reporter said no reporters were being allowed inside the barriers that were set up. I didn't sit and watch everything, but I did watch one of the interviews he did with a 1st responder, Bryce Reed. I've scoured around searching for any footage of that interview, but it was live that night, and I wasn't able to find any videos of it. Did not find anything at the local YNN site, then I'm not signed up with them. The far background was the football field staging area. Reed's face looked blank, adrenalin rush, but that is what I would expect to see. One of the things he described, which is why this stuck in my mind so well, was seeing people trapped and crying for help, but the fire and heat so intense he couldn't get in to help them. I could see some anguish, but he looked away from the camera also. Not sure what to make of the above San Antonio KENS5 article, people don't always have the same reactions during emotional meltdowns, but the article painted a picture. Especially with the last paragraph. I did not watch any of the videos of the eulogy, so maybe that's where the writers got it.

5 star research, OP!

Please continue keeping us informed.

Thank you and for the stars also. Yours made up for the 1 star someone gave me early in this thread.

Backing up to the affidavit. All the articles I've read just said galvanized pipe and dimensions, without mentioning the end caps. I read the affidavit before many of them, but missed them not including this part. Just read an article that does mention the end caps, which is why I went back. Not linking article though. Also noticed something else, so hand copying from [link to www.scribd.com] "Attached to the pipe were 2 galvanized end caps, one of which contained a drilled hole approximately 1/8 in diameter. Additionally the canisters contained and unknown amount of hobby fuse," snipped information, "six coils of metal ribbon," snipped the rest.

I asked if this information would make a difference. The unknown amount of hobby fuse, no difference. Depends on the type of metal ribbon. If magnesium ribbon, it could be used to set off thermite, but it is also used in fireworks. Said thermite would spray all over the place so ATF would have found evidence of it fast.

[link to www.kwtx.com]

WEST (May 11, 2013)—Former West EMS volunteer Bryce Ashley Reed, 31, who remains jailed without bond, charged with possession of a destructive device after admitting to possession of the components to make a pipe bomb, said through his attorney Saturday he’ll plead not guilty and has no connection to the deadly April 17 fertilizer plant explosion that left 15 dead and about 200 injured.

Next link is article about the latest lawsuit to be filed against the Adair plant, and the others filed.
[link to www.kwtx.com]

If anyone has some feedback, something to add, Pa-LEEASE do so.

Each of the Dallas Morning News articles were written May 10 and updated May 11. Each time I've read any of their articles, compared to other news sites, they have more and better written information.

[link to www.dallasnews.com]

By all appearances, Bryce Reed was a grieving man who loved to serve his small community of West. He was a volunteer paramedic dealing with the death of his friend and destruction of much of his town.

He has also made unverifiable claims about his education and career on his online resúmé on LinkedIn. It is unknown when it was last updated, but the bachelor’s and master’s degrees he claims he earned have been disputed by records and authoritative sources. He also claims to have held management positions with three entities that are now defunct.

The only thing that seemed constant in his life was his career as a paramedic. As late as last week, Reed admitted feeling emotionally unstable.

“I’m messed up, and I will be for a long time,” Reed told The Dallas Morning News in an interview May 2. “I’m learning I have issues that I haven’t dealt with in the past and that are coming back.”

He said during that interview for a previously published article in The News that the blast was a “career ender” because of the emotional toll it has had on his life. After being at the scene the night of the blast, he said, he did not want to be a paramedic anymore.

He was most recently employed as a paramedic for Children’s Medical Center of Dallas. He started work there on Jan. 7, a hospital spokeswoman said, and went on leave April 3. She said he remains an employee.

Despite Reed’s departure, he was continuing to involve himself in the disaster’s aftermath.

On April 20, for instance, he gave an update about small fires at the explosion site to displaced West residents at a local hotel. He told them the fires were caused by tanks onsite that were damaged and leaking gas.

West Police Chief James Lawhorn also declined to comment about the situation. He did say that his department didn’t receive any complaints about Reed posing as a city spokesman and did not handle Reed’s arrest.

Reed wrote on his resúmé that he holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Albany-based Excelsior College.

A spokesman for the school, William Stewart, said Reed applied to enter the associate degree program but never enrolled. Stewart also noted that Excelsior’s BSN program is open only to applicants who already are registered nurses. Reed is not listed as an RN in Texas, New York or other states, online records show.

Reed also claimed to have held management positions with at least three entities that appear to be defunct or have dead websites. One of those is the Silentium Group, for which he identifies himself as the president and CEO from 2008 to 2010.

Silentium’s addresses are listed in the El Paso area in business registration records. Those records list three directors: Reed, wife Brittany Reed and Bill Choe Morgan, who could not be reached Friday. Morgan has worked for an ambulance service in Ohio, according to federal bankruptcy court records.

Back in West, neighbors who exchanged notes Friday said they quickly realized Reed had woven a different story to each of them. He told one that he was a cop and another that he worked for the government.

Bryce Reed's statement from his lawyer
[link to www.scribd.com]

[link to www.dallasnews.com]

But the sister of the firefighter that Reed eulogized at a public memorial last month said she had to ask police to guard her deceased brother’s apartment because she feared Reed had been stealing from it since the explosion.

ATF agents spent much of the afternoon at the Waco home of Max Tooker, the father of Bryce Reed’s wife, Brittany Reed. After the agents left the home without commenting, Tooker said his daughter was staying there and that the agents spent the day questioning them.

Tooker, a retired television anchor and radio disc jockey, said his daughter is not a suspect or a person of interest in the case. He said the investigation is “a shock” to him.

According to a post this week on Bryce Reed’s Facebook page, his wife left him sometime after the explosion. Tooker declined to comment about his son-in-law late Friday.

“All I know is, I protect my daughter,” Tooker said. “That’s what I’m here for.”

It’s unclear if Reed knew about his apparent departure. The day after officials said he was let go, he gave an update about small fires at the explosion site to displaced West residents at a local hotel.

Neighbors said the man and his wife and daughter hadn’t been living in their duplex since the blast. One neighbor, who asked that his name be withheld to protect his family’s safety, said Bryce Reed told him his wife had left him. The man said Bryce Reed also told him that the ATF was investigating him for fraud and that his attorneys had advised him to “get the hell out of Dodge.”

The neighbor said that Bryce Reed told him that he had a pipe bomb that had belonged to Cyrus Reed, but that he had given it to a friend to store. Neighbors said ATF agents searched Bryce Reed’s residence on Main Street on Thursday, two days after the Sheriff’s Department found the pipe bomb in Abbott.

[link to www.dallasnews.com]

"We ask that Mr. Reed's family, friends, and community not rush to judgement," said the lawyer, Jonathan Sibley, in a statement "Mr. Reed has been through significant hardship in the wake of the disaster in West and he has responded and served his community with honor and strength."

At last month’s public service for the 12 people killed responding to the fire, Reed gave an often humorous eulogy for Cyrus Reed, who was a volunteer firefighter in nearby Abbott. The two men weren’t related, though they shared the same last name and Bryce Reed often referred to Cyrus Reed as his brother.

In a video that aired at the service, Bryce Reed said Cyrus Reed lived life to the fullest. He said Cyrus Reed also loved fire and was known for backyard high jinks that included shooting BB guns at pressurized cans of processed cheese.

He portrayed Cyrus Reed as a man who loved fire “almost to a fault.”

“His parents and friends can attest to this love of fire, which is evidenced by the burn marks in all of our yards,” Bryce Reed said.

Ronnie Reed is a family friend of Cyrus Reed who isn't related to either him or Bryce Reed. However, he said he has been camping and had barbecues with Cyrus Reed many times and never got the feeling that he was a fire fanatic, as Bryce Reed said in his video eulogy.

“Never seen it,” he said.

Will find out this evening if I need to show up for jury duty selection tomorrow morning. My number is low, so possible.

Yesterdays article was the only one I've noticed including one of the neighbors, that called authorities, saying Bryce told him the pipe bomb belonged to Cyrus. Other articles have mentioned same neighbor, but excluded the part about Cyrus. In this article there is no mention of it, or Cyrus' sister asking the police to guard her brother's home, because she thought Bryce had been stealing things. If those items really belonged to Cyrus, he might have had documentation and been licensed for them. Why would Bryce remove those items, transferring them to someone else? Did he want to get caught? Someone unraveling don't always think things through though.

[link to www.dallasnews.com]

Life had been unraveling for paramedic Bryce Reed even before the fire and explosion that ripped apart his town.

The arrest also exposed a life that had been coming apart at the seams.

On April 17, the day of the explosion, Reed said he and his wife rushed toward the West Fertilizer Co. after hearing that fire had broken out. They were driving around urging neighbors to evacuate when they felt the explosion. He became separated from his wife, a nurse named Brittany, in the chaos of trying to help survivors, he said. He later assumed radio command for the West emergency team, he said, because his superiors were dead.

The News has not been able to confirm any of this account with witnesses or authorities.

He reiterated those denials the next day on Facebook and said his wife had left him.

Brittany Reed responded online: “I would appreciate it if everyone would leave our marriage alone. It is our problems and we are working on them. As far as me leaving, I had to protect my child from this war zone we lived in, as well as the media storm that followed.

“Don’t forget, Bryce, you tried to get me to leave 3 days before I left. But I guess no one hears about that side,” she said in a comment on his Facebook page.

His arrest raised questions about his credibility.

The arrest also exposed a life that had been coming apart at the seams.

Brittany Reed and her 2-year-old daughter moved in with relatives on April 23, her father, Max Tooker, said in a telephone interview late Saturday. The Reeds’ duplex had been damaged in the explosion, and they had been living at the Best Western Czech Inn.

Their family learned of Bryce’s arrest early Friday, he said. His daughter “was shocked. Still in shock.”

The last time she talked to Bryce was Thursday afternoon, Tooker said. “She just really wants to be left alone to raise her daughter,” he said. “What’s happening with Bryce is really Bryce’s problem. She just wanted people to know she had nothing to do with any of this stuff. Nothing. She didn’t know all this stuff was going on.”

Tooker, a retired TV anchor and radio disc jockey, said two ATF agents interviewed Brittany at his home for five hours. Tooker was present and characterized it as a “debriefing.” He said agents asked them not to divulge details.

“I can tell you it was on a positive note as far as Brittany was concerned,” Tooker said. “She’s not considered a suspect or a person of interest. They were looking for background information, timeline information.”


[link to www.dallasnews.com]

Whether the West Fertilizer Co. fire began by accident or by arson, a $200 voluntary inspection before the blaze might have told the company how to keep its inventory from exploding.

Atop the list of precautions that never were: For about $40,000, the fertilizer warehouse just outside West might have installed an automatic sprinkler system to kill a fire before it became a blast that killed 15 people.

West Fertilizer didn’t have sprinklers in its warehouse, a company spokesman confirmed. The warehouse was across the street from schools, playgrounds, houses and a nursing home. The explosion destroyed or damaged them all.

The sprinklers are perhaps the most important missing safeguard. Experts say arson and electrical fires are frequent threats for ammonium nitrate warehouses. Sprinklers, they say, can help stop a fire, even an intentional one, from becoming a catastrophe.

“That could have been the difference,” said Edwin Cope, a fire and industrial safety engineer and hazardous-materials specialist who advises builders and owners in Houston. “Certainly it could have controlled or knocked down the fire to the point where you wouldn’t have had the explosion.”

Again, many thanks to the anonymous OP for all of the excellent research!

I am surprised that this story is recieving so little press, but it sounds like the various investigative agencies are playing their cards extremely close to the chest -- as they should.

This is sounding more and more like an opportunistic and purposeful case of planned devastation.

To what purpose? To become the "hero" of a great conflagration, rushing to command rescue efforts?

While it is entirely too soon for we armchair observers to throw the book at an individual based upon bits and pieces of unflattering assertions, it does seem like pieces of a puzzle are coming together.

You're welcome and thank you. Many things running through my mind about this. Past issues not dealt with get the best of everyone in some way or another, but in certain professions they can be crippling. Sounds like he might have some extremely deep past issues, but will curb what I'm thinking past that point.

If the AC that attended the funeral of a firefighter friend is still following this thread, and another GLPer who knew Bryce a couple of years ago, I can only imagine what you both might be feeling. For that matter how everyone in West and Abbot might be feeling with this development. Shock on top of shock and possibly feeling betrayed. No, not trying to get you to post, just thinking about you both, and how devastated I would feel. Just wanted to express is all. ((( Hugs )))

Tomorrow I get to report for jury duty. They aren't calling numbers, just said everyone called has to show up. If the investigators stick with their info releases, they've been doing it on Mondays. Still onsite and not expecting to complete that until the 17th or maybe another week after that. Bryce Reed also has a court date the 17th, unless I'm getting the dates all mixed up now.

[link to www.kwtx.com]

It was earlier reported by The Texas Department of State Health Services that Reed was “let go" by
West Emergency Medical Services on April 19, The Associated Press later reported.

But Tom Marek of West EMS told News 10 Sunday that Reed and 62 other volunteers who make up the department were all deemed inactive on April 19th.

"Due to the extravagance of the explosion, all members of the West EMS team had to be reviewed mentally and physically before they were allowed to perform with West EMS again,” Marek said.

"As members made their way back onto the roster, state, and federal counselors advised that Mr. Reed needed more time to heal and grieve before returning to work."

Seven members of West EMS are currently inactive.

Reed remained inactive up until his arrest on Friday.

The call for jury duty did not last much longer than roll call.

I've not found any new information yet. Will check later today for new. The rest is filler, but different than sawdust ;).

If you're interested this link shows plants and locations for ammonium nitrate in TX only. [link to www.dallasnews.com]

Backing up here for some info about the West mayor. Just info is all. The article in the above posted comment, he says all of the West EMS were let go the same day, which makes up for what he said right after Bryce Reed was arrested. This mayor did not seem to know the EMS employees, let alone the EMS instructor. Backing up to articles that repeated the quote.
[link to www.firehouse.com]
West Mayor Tommy Muska was skeptical that someone might have intentionally triggered the blast.

"I find it hard to believe," Muska said, "but I don't know who this guy is or where he lives."

Reed has presented himself on Myspace as a fun-loving country music fan and singer (one of his albums is called "Lost it All"). But he may have faced criticism as his profile increased. In a Facebook post before another friend's funeral Tuesday, Reed defended himself, saying he was accepting donations to buy a house but was not trying to profit from his friend's death or the explosion that tore apart his town and his family, leading his wife to leave him.

"I did and will do what I thought was right," he wrote. "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."

Same quote in in this article. [link to articles.latimes.com]

Just confirming what has been known and stated in many articles.
[link to security-today.com]
Apparently, Bryce Reed was also an EMS instructor, and Dallasnews.com spoke with one of his students, Amanda Atkins. “The Bryce Reed that I know is a great guy. He would do anything for anybody. I would trust him with my life.”

The link I had to insert here is another one that is banned due to copyright infringement threats.
Dr. George Smith is the medical director of West EMS. He would not comment when he was contacted.

Bryce Reed was also an instructor for an EMS class, according to Amanda Atkins, a student.

Someone must have reminded the mayor and more info was given. The mayor has been busy since the explosion, because he owns an insurance company that handles private and commercial. [link to muskainsurance.com]

Note about the underline above, 1st time I've seen the part about accepting donations to buy a house. ???, strange defense?? Time for me to go outside to play in the dirt again. Now until I see newly released information...

[link to thescoopblog.dallasnews.com]

The Texas Department of Insurance says results
investigation of the fire scene at the West Fertilizer Plant
announced on Thursday at a 4 p.m. news conference
West High School parking lot.


really, really short article. The city council will learn the results before the public.

Correcting something I wrote earlier in the amateur pyrotechnics part. I wrote black powder, but it was supposed to be flash powder.

Wasn't expecting to find anything, surprise.

Federal Grand Jury Indicts Ex-West EMS Volunteer

But this isn't about the pipe, chemicals, etc. They must have found a gun in his duplex. Read the indictment. Not much too in and only 2 spots were redacted.
[link to media.graytvinc.com]

[link to www.kwtx.com]

Reed’s attorney, Jonathan Sibley of Waco, learned of the indictment late Tuesday afternoon.

He questions the charge.

“I think they haven’t done a full investigation,” Sibley said.

“I think these charges are premature.”

Went back to earlier posts and found the detention hearing will be tomorrow, the 15th.

So maybe the Grand Jury indictment is about the pipe and components, instead of a gun. When I read destructive device, firearm, it automatically meant gun to me.

[link to media.graytvinc.com]

[link to www.dallasnews.com]

West resident indicted by grand jury on destructive-device charge

What’s next: Reed is scheduled to appear for a detention hearing at 2 p.m. Wednesday in Waco.

2 page article.

Firefighters focused concern on toxic gases in West

[link to www.kxan.com]
dated May 15

"We do not know," said Daniel Horowitz, managing director of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, one of the federal agencies involved in the investigation. "With interviews still underway, it's difficult to say at this point what was the level of knowledge and what did they know about suppression techniques."


Associated Press interviews with first-responders suggest that firefighters' foremost fear was a poisonous cloud of anhydrous ammonia. But the greater threat turned out to be the plant's vast stockpile of a common fertilizer, ammonium nitrate, which can also serve as a cheap alternative to dynamite.

State and federal agents plan to release some of their findings Thursday after spending the last month investigating whether the blast was an industrial accident or a criminal act.

West Mayor Tommy Muska said he did not know how much the firefighters knew about the chemicals on the property, but the fire crew included a manager from the fertilizer plant.

Cody Dragoo "would have known exactly what was in there and the dangers that were there," the mayor said, explaining why he believes firefighters were backing away from the flames at the West Fertilizer Co.

They did not get away fast enough. The plant blew up within 20 minutes of the first call for help. Dragoo was among 10 firefighters and paramedics killed in the blast. Two residents helping to fight the fire were also killed, along with two other people.

Federal and state governments aren't much help either. Most of the rules governing the fertilizer are designed to ensure it doesn't end up in criminals' hands

Texas farm country is dotted with fertilizer plants in towns served by volunteer firefighters. But a 2009 blaze at the El Dorado Chemical Co. in Bryan, Texas, unfolded much differently than the disaster in West. Bryan firefighters knew a welder had accidentally heated up an ammonium nitrate bin and that the chemical was smoldering. They evacuated the area and let the facility burn to the ground. Nothing exploded.

Texas does not require any training for volunteer fire companies, though most do so independently, said Chris Barron, executive director of the State Firemen's and Fire Marshal's Association. Often volunteer firefighters receive first-level certification that provides an overview of fire-suppression and rescue techniques.

At least 20 of West's 29 firefighters had such training, Barron said. It teaches that oxidizers such as ammonium nitrate "will accelerate burning when involved in a fire" and "may explode from heat or contamination."

In West, however, firefighters appeared to focus largely on the chemical with which they were most familiar — the anhydrous ammonia, a liquid fertilizer that has a risk of producing a toxic chemical cloud in an accident.

Doreen Strickland, president of the volunteer firefighters from nearby Abbott, pulled up to the plant as it exploded. One of her fire trucks was lifted in the air and slammed back down. Some of her men were inside, and she knew they had to be dead. At least three were killed. But she heard no one discuss ammonium nitrate ahead of the massive blast.

"Our main reason for evacuating at that time was because of the heat and intensity of the fire, and it was so close," Strickland said. The anhydrous ammonia "was a major concern."

[link to www.kwtx.com]

WACO (May 14, 2013)—A federal court appearance Wednesday for former West EMS volunteer Bryce Ashley Reed, 31, who admitted to possessing components to make a pipe bomb, was canceled after Reed deferred his right to a detention hearing to a later date, U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesman Daryl Fields said.

Root ers has now picked it up, so you know why there is no link.

Lawyers for the prosecution and defense agreed on Wednesday morning that Reed would defer his right to a detention hearing, waive his arraignment, enter a not guilty plea and remain in federal custody, Daryl Fields said. Mr. Fields is a public affairs officer for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Western District of Texas.

There is no history of complaints or disciplinary action filed against Bryce Reed with the state, said Carrie Williams, a spokeswoman for the health services department.

Didn't expect to find anything yet, but some of the report has been leaked from what this article says. Article claims to have gotten this leaked info from the Dallas Morning News, but I didn't spot anything about it under their West Explosion articles page. Article below was written yesterday, but wasn't posted when I checked last night before heading for bed. Investigators news conference is still to be held later today in West.

[link to www.kwtx.com]

will announce the results of their weeks-long investigation of the deadly April 17 explosion at West Fertilizer Co. later Thursday, but a published report Thursday morning says they have identified three possible causes.

Quoting an unnamed government official, The Dallas Morning News reported Thursday morning that investigators traced the fire that led to the powerful explosion to a golf cart, the fertilizer and seed building’s electrical system or an intentional act.

Investigators will officially list the cause as undetermined, the newspaper reported.

[link to www.kwtx.com]

identified three possible causes... two accidental and the third intentional

battery-powered golf cart that was kept in the fertilizer and seed building in which the fire started, the building’s 120-volt electrical system or by an intentional criminal act

Investigators recovered only a brake pad and an axle from the golf cart, which was not enough to allow them to determine whether the cart’s battery could have ignited the fire, but officials said there’s precedent for that happening.

tragedy unfolded in just 19 minutes.

As much as 64 tons of ammonium nitrate was stored in the building, 28 to 34 tons of which exploded, Kistner said.

The total amount of ammonium nitrate on the site was about 150 tons, less than 270 tons that federal records indicated was stored at the plant.

The first, which was the result of some combination of heat, building pressure from containment and shock from falling debris and equipment, triggered the second larger blast, he said.

The blast scattered debris over a 3,000-foot radius and one piece of evidence was found 2-and-a-half miles from the blast site, Kistner said.

"While the scene examination has been completed, the investigation will remain open for purposes of conducting additional interviews, following up on leads, and the like,” State Fire Marshal Chris Connealy said.

[link to www.tdi.texas.gov]

“At this time, the State Fire Marshal’s Office and the ATF are ruling the cause of the fire as undetermined,” said State Fire Marshal Chris Connealy. According to Connealy, an undetermined cause finding is made “when the cause cannot be proven to an acceptable level of certainty, which could be due to insufficient information or if multiple causes could not be eliminated." Connealy further stated that “while the scene examination has been completed, the investigation will remain open for purposes of conducting additional interviews, following up on leads, and the like.”

Over 104 agents, investigators, and experts were on scene.

The State Fire Marshal’s Office is required by law to investigate all Line of Duty Deaths (LODD) of firefighters in Texas. SFMO is currently investigating the deaths of the 12 individuals who died while responding to the West Fertilizer Plant fire. The LODD investigation is ongoing and is likely to take several months to complete.

This investigation was lead by SFMO and ATF with the assistance of the West Police Department, McLennan County Sheriff’s Office, McLennan County District Attorney’s Office, Texas Department of Public Safety – DPS Criminal Intelligence Division, Texas Rangers, U.S. Attorney’s Office - Western District, the Environmental Protection Agency, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Texas Department Insurance - Fraud Unit, Texas Department of Emergency Management, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Texas Office of State Chemist, Waco Fire Marshal, Hill County Sheriff’s Office, Texas Task Force I/II – Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Postal Police, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Texas Forest Service, Lake Jackson Fire Marshal’s Office, Chemical Safety Board, Harker Heights Police Department, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Union Pacific Rail Road, Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers.

Just pulling information.

[link to trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com]

Update (5pm): The two parts found from the golf cart were actually a brake pad and an axle, investigators said in publicly announcing their findings. The cart was typically kept in the “seed room,” the part of the facility where investigators believe the fire started.

The investigation continues into the possibility of arson.

Investigators will rule the cause as “undetermined” for now,

[link to thescoopblog.dallasnews.com]

It could have been that golf cart because that golf cart was old.” The mayor recalled seeing the “rickety old golf cart” often. He said plant workers used it to get around the grounds.

Muska said he did not think the explosion was the result of a criminal act. He also downplayed the possibility that Bryce Reed, a former West volunteer paramedic, could have been involved.

“He’s just more of a nuisance,” Muska said of Reed. “He’s just a distraction.”

What authorities do know is that there were two explosions on the night of April 17 — one small and one large, milliseconds apart.

Connealy called the explosion “certainly one of the worst in American history for first responders.” And authorities said the length and detail of their investigation is comparable to the Oklahoma City bombing and 9/11 attacks.

Investigative agencies will continue to have personnel on the ground in West as their inquiries continue.

Update at 5:13 p.m.:

Here’s a separate statement from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, saying its investigation, too, is continuing.

It quotes the board’s western regional director as saying: “The CSB will be examining many issues surrounding the explosion such as the safe storage and handling of ammonium nitrate, the siting of vulnerable public facilities and residential units near the facility, and emergency responder safety. In addition, the investigation will examine the adequacy of national standards, industry practices, and regulations for the safe storage and handling of ammonium nitrate.”

Update at 4:56 p.m.:

The ammonium nitrate was stored in wooden bins.

Update at 4:53 p.m.:

There is a history of golf courts starting fires. Batteries can hold charges.

Because authorities cannot find all of the pieces of a battery-operated golf cart that was in the seed room, they cannot eliminate it as a possible cause.

Update at 4:51 p.m.:

2 explosions “milliseconds apart.” Falling debris caused the first, and and that one created heat and pressure to cause the other.

Update at 4:47 p.m.:

28 to 34 tons of ammonium nitrate exploded. In all, there were about 150 tons on the premises, including 100 tons in a rail car that caught fire but did not explode.

Update at 4:43 p.m.:

Origin of the fire was in the seed building, northern area known as the seed room.

Now the part where Bryce has stated he will avenge this makes considerably more sense. Suspicions, not necessarily someone speaking during an emotional meltdown.

[link to www.nydailynews.com]
dated May 11

He also described one of the West firefighters who died in the blast, Cyrus Reed, as his brother though the men weren't related. He said Cyrus Reed worked at Hunting Titan, which manufactured explosives in nearby Milford for oil and gas companies, and would have known the dangers of the ammonium nitrate and anhydrous ammonia inside the plant.

"I will avenge this. This will get right. I don't care what it takes," Reed said when talking about what might have caused the blast. "There's one thing about Texas, that Texans understand: People talk about law and order. Well, welcome to Texas. We believe in justice. I'm going to get my justice. Period."

Along with the wooden bins containing the ammonium nitrate in the same building (wooden) with dry, combustible seeds. Hm, thought seeds were not combustible unless they were going through a grinder, then the dust from them floating in the air would be combustible. The West Fertilizer Plant's general manager is Ted Uptmore Sr. and he is quoted below.


[link to www.dallasnews.com]

Out of the spotlight, a separate team of investigators is trying to determine, no matter how the fire started, what more could have been done to save this Central Texas farm town. Leading that line of inquiry is a small, relatively new federal agency that is staffed by experts in chemistry, public health and engineering, but lacks the power to levy fines or make arrests.

The Chemical Safety Board began in 1998 with a congressional mandate to investigate industrial chemical accidents and identify the systemic breakdowns that caused them. It serves an ombudsman’s role, recommending changes that governments, businesses and labor groups should make.

The CSB was not part of the news conference, even though it has had about 18 investigators and technicians in West since shortly after the explosion. Instead, its staff, including Holstrom, stood listening among the crowd.

CSB investigators were not allowed in during the final week of the investigation. “It’s been a little tricky to exercise” right of access to the plant property, CSB managing director Daniel Horowitz acknowledged. “We’ve had only limited and intermittent access since the accident.”

CSB investigators have spent their time interviewing West Fertilizer Co. employees, first responders and customers of the plant. They’ve also been inspecting damage to surrounding neighborhoods — the explosion launched debris as far as 2.5 miles — and testing chemical samples. Officials anticipate several more weeks of field work, followed by months of more analyses and public hearings.

“We’re casting a very wide net in trying to gather information that will shed light not just on what happened in this wooden warehouse building,” Horowitz said, “but really what are the practices that need to be changed on a national basis.”

“This is really the worst community damage that the Chemical Safety Board has ever seen,” Horowitz said.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, for instance, requires companies with large stores of ammonium nitrate — more than 10,000 pounds — only to file annual inventory reports under the Emergency Planning Community Right-to-Know Act. Ammonium nitrate is not on the EPA’s list of “extremely hazardous chemicals” that facilities must report as part of their emergency planning.

A 2011 initiative by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration excluded plants that distributed or sold ammonium nitrate from a list of targeted inspections. OSHA, which last inspected West Fertilizer in 1985, focused instead on manufacturers.

And none of the Texas agencies that had a role in regulating plants like West Fertilizer required liability insurance to cover damage caused by a fire or explosion. Yet other types of businesses — like children’s bounce-house operators and exterminators — are required by state law to carry some form of coverage.

In a statement released after Thursday’s press conference, the CSB said it would examine “the effectiveness of regulatory coverage” by OSHA, the EPA and the state of Texas. The agency said it would study land use planning and zoning practices for “high-hazard facilities” that allowed vulnerable population centers like schools and residential areas near such plants. It would also review the emergency response to the fire, as well as preparedness planning in West, compared to good practices elsewhere.

“The regulators at the federal and state level need to be looking at this incident,” Horowitz said. “There are sites like this all around the country.”

Investigators revealed for the first time Thursday that West Fertilizer had used wooden bins to store the ammonium nitrate that detonated in the same building with dry, combustible seeds. As the fire intensified, debris and equipment fell on top of the ammonium nitrate, providing the shock that probably caused the explosion.

Spokesmen for West Fertilizer and its owner, Donald Adair, have said little about plant operations, citing the ongoing investigation.

Two top employees approached by a reporter Thursday also declined to discuss how the ammonium nitrate was stored. One, general manager Ted Uptmore Sr., said he watched the briefing on TV and didn’t know much more.

“You know what I know,” Uptmore said. He added that talk about how the material was stored and best practices was just “speculation.” But he wouldn’t answer any questions.

CSB officials pointed out that other countries, such as Australia and the United Kingdom, have strict rules for storing ammonium nitrate. In the UK, for example, the workplace safety government watchdog notes the material’s volatility and recommends it be stored in “dedicated, well-ventilated buildings that are constructed from materials that will not burn, such as concrete, bricks or steel.”

Those types of practices and improved codes could potentially become the basis of a CSB recommendation, agency officials said.

Glenn Corbett is an associate professor in the department of security, fire and emergency management at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. He’s also a former fire code enforcement official in Austin and San Antonio.

As the investigation by all agencies continues, Corbett said, he thinks the explosion has the potential to prompt improved safety regulations and business practices. He also said it could be a “turning point for the state to seriously consider a model fire code.”

Also found an article that lists the year (2004) Donald Adair purchased the fertilizer plant from Plasek. Monsanto lawsuit was filed in 2008, but most articles were not sure who filed it, as the records are closed. So Adair owned the plant.

[link to www.dallasnews.com]
dated May 18 (yesterday)

Branching out

Don Adair grew up in Abbott, a small town near West. He recalls picking cotton as a child with Willie Nelson, a neighbor. After high school, he entered the U.S. Air Force and was stationed in San Antonio. He met Wanda, who lived in San Antonio, at church. They married in 1961.

After the Air Force, Don began a career at General Tire and Rubber in Waco. Using his steady paycheck for financial stability, he and Wanda began to seriously pursue their passions — farming and raising a family. Adair retired from General Tire after more than 25 years and started farming full time.

Over the years, the Adairs have acquired substantial land holdings in Central Texas. They now own more than 1,500 acres of crop and pasture land in Hill, McLennan and Limestone counties, according to government records. The market value of that acreage tops $2 million.

Agricultural experts in Central Texas describe the Adair farm operation as average — neither big nor small.

They purchased the West Fertilizer Co. in 2004, when previous owners were about to let it go out of business. Friends said Don Adair bought the plant as a favor to area farmers, him included, so they wouldn’t have to drive to Waco or Hillsboro to purchase fertilizer and other supplies.

Friends describe Adair as a fun-loving guy who jokes around a lot. He once bought a donkey. And for months afterward, his family bought him donkey-themed gifts. He wore house slippers with donkeys on the toes.

“Don is the kind of guy who will do anything for you,” said Albrecht, his pastor. “People have no idea how heavy his heart is.”