The ‘why’ behind ATF helping College Station Fire with Krispy Kreme investigation

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – After the Krispy Kreme in College Station burned down on Monday, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sent 25 agents to assist the College Station Fire Department in its investigation.

The Krispy Kreme explosion happened early Monday morning. Gumby’s General Manager Raul Gonzalez called 9-1-1 when he saw Krispy Kreme on fire, and said he had heard an explosion just before.

“There was only one small flame inside the building, but you could definitely tell that the windows were blown out. It was just like broken. After that phone call [with 9-1-1] , literally two minutes later, there were just more explosions. Smaller ones, but yeah, definitely made the fire bigger,” said Gonzalez.

ATF agents arrived on the scene at Krispy Kreme on Tuesday. In cases like the Krispy Kreme explosion, agents are deployed to help local agencies with investigations.

After KBTX spoke with the director of a fire school, a private investigator and ATF, it’s clear that complex investigations often require backup from agencies like the ATF.

Johnny Zachary, the director of Kilgore College Fire Academy, said it’s important for fire marshals to be methodical and intentional when putting out a fire and dealing with the aftermath.

Fire marshals are trained to carefully observe a scene and look for possible signs of incendiary devices.

”If it is determined that it is intentionally set for whatever reason that is, then we need to slow it down and sometimes we need to get a judge to sign a warrant for further searches or further things, so it gets pretty complicated,” said Zachary.

KBTX also sat down with a licensed private investigator Donnie Manry, who explained why the College Station Fire Department accepted help from ATF to investigate this scene.

He explains that the second a 9-1-1 call is placed, it becomes an investigation. However, “if the task at hand is bigger than what the department can tackle by themselves, federal agencies, like ATF, often offer help,” said Manry.

Federal agencies can provide support, extra manpower and additional resources to the local agencies, like the College Station Fire Department.

”It’s really nice to have it [the extra help] when you’re short-staffed and you got a case like this that is important and you need that expertise, people that are looking at this every day. You have an arson division with ATF and that’s what they are doing, they look at it every day so it’s great to have them roll in when you ask them,” said Manry.

Manry said after seeing videos of the fire, he wasn’t surprised to see the resources being poured into an investigation like this one.

”It appeared from some of your video and footage that there might have been some patterns consistent with accelerants. An accelerant can be anything: gasoline, diesel fuel, charcoal or lighter. Something used to accelerate the fire and start the fire,” said Manry.

Manry said when a federal agency gets involved, both the local and federal agencies will have a lead case agent and work side-by-side until the investigation is complete. College Station Fire remains the lead on this investigation.

Assistant special agent with the ATF Houston Division Frank Ortega said the complexity of the fire case determines if they call in members from the ATF national response team.

“We have at our disposal our national response team that has different members from different specialties, we have CFI explosive specialists, electrical engineers, fire protection engineers, it just depends on the size and scope of the scene,” said Ortega.

In a press release sent to KBTX, College Station Fire states:

“The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives is assisting the College Station Fire Department in its investigation into the cause of the fire at Krispy Kreme on Monday morning. The ATF contacted CSFD Fire Marshal Cameron Giordano on Monday and offered its assistance. This collaboration between local and federal agencies brings specialized resources, expertise, and manpower to investigate a scene that the fire department needs to process quickly. With the help of 25 ATF agents, CSFD’s four fire marshals can process the scene for evidence, interview witnesses, and review security camera footage. The College Station Police Department is also assisting in the investigation. The incident commander at the Krispy Kreme fire contacted Fire Marshal Giordano, who was on the scene investigating before the fire was fully extinguished. The College Station Fire Department investigates all fires to determine the cause and point of origin. Several other City departments assisted in making this a safe scene for firefighters. Streets, Utilities, Public Works, and the Police Department also responded Monday morning to control the area around the scene so firefighters could operate safely. This is an ongoing investigation, and the scene will continue to be secured.”

At this time, ATF says there is not a specific timeline for how long agents will be in town.

The College Station Fire Department says the building and scene will continue to be secure while the investigation is ongoing.