ATF National and International Response Team
Purpose
In February 1978, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) formed the arson and explosives National Response Team (NRT). Federal, state, and local investigators can request the activation of the NRT to investigate significant fire and explosive incidents.
The International Response Team (IRT) is part of the NRT program and, through an agreement with the U.S. Department of State, can be deployed anywhere in the world to investigate fires and explosions, in conjunction with the Diplomatic Security Service or local law enforcement agencies.
Authority
ATF became actively involved in the investigation of explosives-related incidents with the enactment of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970. In 1982, Congress amended the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970 to cover offenses involving fire, as well as explosives, thereby increasing federal jurisdiction in arson crimes.
Mission
The primary objective of the NRT is to concentrate ATF explosives/fire investigative resources and expertise on those incidents and investigations that are clearly beyond the resources, capabilities, and expertise of other federal, state, and local agencies or ATF field divisions. The NRT provides an immediate and sustained nationwide response capability to such situations with state-of-the-art equipment and the most qualified ATF personnel available.
The NRT works in conjunction with other investigators to reconstruct the scene, identify the seat of the blast or origin of the fire, and determine the cause. In the case of bombings and arsons, NRT members gather evidence to support criminal prosecutions. A deployed team is generally broken down into two components: a group that processes the scene and an investigative-lead element. In the course of the overall investigation, both components maintain constant coordination to ensure investigative continuity.
The NRT is composed of veteran special agents, including certified explosives specialists, certified fire investigators, forensic mappers, accelerant and explosives detection canines, explosives enforcement officers, fire protection engineers, electrical engineers, and forensic chemists. NRT special agents are explosives and fire investigators trained to work numerous fire and explosives scenes.
The NRT’s resources include a fleet of fully equipped response vehicles strategically located throughout the United States that allow the NRT to be self-contained for the forensic examination of explosives and fire scenes.
To date, there have been 725 NRT activations and 31 IRT activations. In fiscal year 2011, the NRT responded to 11 incidents. Past NRT activations include such incidents as the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, 2001; the Birmingham abortion clinic bombing, 1998; the Atlanta Olympics bombing, 1996; the Oklahoma City bombing, 1995; and the World Trade Center bombing, 1993.
IRT activations include the recent Comayagua, Honduras prison fire that killed more than 350 inmates; an Albanian ammunition depot explosion in April 2008 that killed 26 people, wounded approximately 400 others, and destroyed or damaged more than 4,000 homes and businesses; the recovery of several improvised explosive devices in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in January 2008; and a nightclub bombing in Bogota, Colombia, that killed 32 people in February 2003.
For more information about the National and International Response Team, go to www.atf.gov.
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