Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

ST.  LOUIS — The National Response Team (NRT) of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) arrived on-scene Tuesday to join agents from the St. Louis ATF Office in investigating the fire that destroyed the Woodard Cleaning and Restoration warehouse in Rock Hill, Mo.

The Rock Hill Fire Department responded to the warehouse late Sunday night and battled the fire for several hours, with help from surrounding fire departments. The ATF NRT will assist St. Louis Area Bomb an Arson Task Force and the Rock Hill Fire Department in investigating the origin and cause of the blaze.

In 1978, ATF developed the NRT to bring its expertise to federal, state and local investigators in meeting the challenges faced at the scenes of significant explosions and arson incidents. The NRT consists of four teams organized geographically to cover the United States. Each team can respond within 24 hours to assist state and local law enforcement/fire service personnel in on-site investigations.

The teams are each composed of 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, intelligence support, computer forensic support, and audit support. The teams work alongside state and local officers in reconstructing the scene, identifying the seat of the blast or origin of the fire, conducting interviews, and sifting through debris to obtain evidence related to the bombing/arson.

This is the sixth NRT activation this fiscal year and the 839th activation since the inception of the NRT in 1978.

In addition to investigating hundreds of scenes, the NRT has been activated to scenes such as the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the Oklahoma City federal building bombing and the Sept. 11, 2001, Pentagon crash site, West Texas explosion, as well as blasts at explosives and ammunition manufacturing plants, legal fireworks factories and illegal explosive device manufacturing operations.

ATF is the federal agency with jurisdiction for investigating fires and crimes of arson. For more information about ATF, go to www.atf.gov and follow @ATFHQ on Twitter.

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