ATF sends special team to lead investigation into huge Williamsburg fire
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it has sent its “elite” National Response Team to lead the investigation into a fire that destroyed nearly an entire city block in Williamsburg last month.
The Jan. 20 fire damaged or destroyed at least seven two-story buildings on the courthouse square in the Whitley County town. Firefighters from multiple counties spent about 15 hours fighting the blaze, which left apartments and businesses damaged and sent at least two people to the hospital with minor injuries.
While business owners were told the fire looked to be consistent with an electrical short, local officials told the Herald-Leader at the time that federal investigators were looking into the fire “out of an abundance of caution.”
The ATF already had members of the team in Williamsburg documenting the scene and doing preliminary work soon after the fire, but the weather delayed the arrival of most team members until Friday, the federal agency said in a news release.
The group will be “interviewing witnesses, analyzing, processing and documenting the fire scene, and determining the origin and cause of the fire,” the release stated.
“This was a massive and extremely dangerous fire that nearly wiped out an entire block of businesses and apartments,” John Nokes, ATF Special Agent in Charge of the Louisville Field Division, said in the release. “ATF is here to work alongside our local partners to bring every available resource we have to help determine the cause of this fire and find answers for those affected by this devastating event.”
The National Response Team investigates major fires and bombings. Past incidents have included the California Palisades fire, the attack on the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, the Oklahoma City bombing and the World Trade Center bombing in 1993.
A week before the Williamsburg fire, a large fire ripped through a law office on Main Street in London. A man who was rescued from the building was charged with arson in connection with the Jan. 13 fire.
