ATF National Response Team Activated to Large Residential Fire in Wisconsin
March 20 2007 - 11:02PM
PR Newswire (US)
SHEBOYGAN, Wis., March 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National
Response Team from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives (ATF) along with ATF special agents from several states
have entered the investigation of a large unfinished residential
building fire that occurred March 19 at the Landmark Square senior
living center at the request of the Sheboygan Fire and Police
Departments. Bernard Zapor, special agent in charge of ATF's St.
Paul Field Division, said that the 151,614 square foot structure,
which was located at 832 N. 6th Street and still under
construction, was destroyed and early estimates of damages are in
excess of $13.25 million. ATF's National Response Team (NRT) has
brought definitive expertise and an array of state-of-the-art
equipment to the investigation of major fire and explosives
incidents since 1978. Four regional components, organized
geographically to cover the United States, comprise the NRT. The
team can respond within 24 hours to assist state and local law
enforcement or fire service personnel in onsite investigations. The
responding NRT component normally has 13-18 members, including
veteran special agents who have post-blast and fire
origin-and-cause expertise; forensic chemists; explosives
enforcement officers; fire protection engineers; accelerant
detection canines; explosives detection canines; and intelligence,
computer forensic and audit support. A fleet of fully equipped
response vehicles strategically located throughout the United
States provides logistical support. "ATF's partnership with
federal, state and local officers is vital to the most effective
processing efforts at an explosives incident or fire scene," Zapor
said. "The NRT capitalizes on that by working alongside its
partners in reconstructing the scene, identifying the seat of the
blast or the origin of the fire, conducting interviews and sifting
through debris to obtain evidence related to the explosion or
fire." In addition to investigating hundreds of large fire and
explosives scenes, the NRT trucks were deployed for the 2001
terrorist attack on the Pentagon, the Olympics and other major
sporting events in the United States, presidential inaugurations
and the national political conventions, and major international
conferences. This is the 12th NRT activation in fiscal 2007 and the
630th since the program began in 1978. Other agencies involved in
the investigation are the Sheboygan Police and Fire Departments and
the Wisconsin State Fire Marshal's Office. Contact: ATF PIO Thomas
Ahern (312)735-0675 DATASOURCE: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives Contact: Thomas Ahern of Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, +1-312-735-0675 Web site:
http://www.atf.gov/
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