Blast registered on seismographs as earthquake
Investigators have not ruled out an intentional fire being behind explosions at a fertilizer plant in the small town of West that left 15 people dead, the Texas fire marshal said Thursday.
State Fire Marshal Chris Connealy said investigators were unable to rule out three possible causes, including a spark from a golf cart, an electrical short or an intentionally set fire.
“The cause cannot be proven to an acceptable level,” Connealy told reporters.
Investigators said the incident was actually two simultaneous blasts triggered by the fire. The blasts, which registered on seismographs as a magnitude 2.1 earthquake and was felt 50 miles away, caused damage to a 37-block area of the town.
The announcement follows news last week that authorities launched a criminal investigation into the April 17 fire and explosion in West, about 70 miles southwest of Dallas.
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West, Texas Blast Was Caused By an Arsonist, Electrical Short or Golf Cart, Officials Say
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| NBC 5 |
| State Fire Marshal Chris Connealy at this afternoon’s press conference. |
The Morning News broke the news this morning that officials had narrowed the cause of last month’s deadly West, Texas fertilizer plant explosion to one of three things: a golf cart, an electrical short, or criminal activity. That wasn’t terribly narrow, but there was a press conference scheduled this afternoon, so we thought investigators might be more specific.
They didn’t.
“The cause of this fire is undetermined,” State Fire Marshal Chris Connealy told reporters, explaining that fire investigators make that ruling when a “cause cannot be proven to an acceptable level of certainty because of insufficient information or when multiple causes can’t be eliminated.”
Several causes have been ruled out. The fire wasn’t caused by a rekindle as had been speculated, because there was no earlier fire. It also wasn’t spontaneous, nor was it caused by the 480-volt electrical system.
That leaves the complex’s 120-volt electrical system, a golf cart, or arson.
Investigators with the State Fire Marshal’s office and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms pointedly declined to speculate on the latter or the potential role of former EMT Bryce Reed, charged with possessing a pipe bomb, saying the criminal investigation is ongoing.
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