Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

SEATTLE — The final members of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) National Response Team (NRT) departed Maui, Hawaii, Wednesday, Aug. 30, after investigating the devastating wildland fires on the island.

The four-member ATF NRT team included a team leader, an electrical engineer from the ATF Fire Research Laboratory and two certified fire investigators (CFI). The Seattle Field Division supplemented the NRT response with an Arson and Explosives Group supervisor, who is also a CFI, and a CFI candidate from the division’s Honolulu Field Office.

Four members of the ATF Honolulu Field Office also deployed to Maui to support the NRT, conducting witness interviews and collecting video evidence.

Information gathered by the NRT and Honolulu Field Office members will be consolidated in the coming weeks and provided to Maui Fire Department for inclusion in their department’s origin and cause report.

ATF will not be doing its own origin and cause report, nor will it release any of its investigative findings publicly.

This is the 21^st NRT activation this fiscal year and the 910^th since the program began in 1978. The NRT is comprised of three regional components, organized geographically to cover the United States. The team provides an immediate and sustained nationwide response capability, typically deploying within 24 hours of notification, with state-of-the-art equipment and highly qualified ATF personnel specializing in fire origin and cause determination, to assist local and state law enforcement or fire service personnel.

Past NRT activations include such incidents as the Grande Costa D’Avorio ship fire investigation in 2023, the Nashville “Christmas Day” bombing, more than 200 fire scenes resulting from civil unrest throughout the Midwest in 2020, a series of bombings in Austin, Texas, in 2018, and national-level tragedies such as the 9/11 terrorist attack on the Pentagon, the Centennial Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta, the Oklahoma City bombing and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

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