WEST — Three years is enough time to start rebuilding after a tragedy.
But there wasn't enough time in the world to prepare the people of West, Texas for the news they received Wednesday about the fertilizer plant fire in 2013 that changed their lives forever.
"We are here today to announce the final ruling as to the cause of the fire," said ATF Special Agent in Charge Rob Elder at a press conference at the Knights of Columbus Hall in West. "The fire has been ruled as incendiary. This means this fire was a criminal act."
Longtime West resident Vicky Puscejovsky said she watched the announcement live on television and couldn't help but cover her mouth with her hands.
"I just sat there and watched the because it really did shock me," she said. She'd barely had 30 minutes to wrap her head around the news when we spoke to her. Others didn't know until we told them.
"That is just insane; I cannot believe that," said Keely Kucscherousky, who lived in West when the tragedy happened. "That is awful. I know that’s going to change a lot in this community."
For starters, the community now wants to know who would do this and why. Fifteen people were killed when the fertilizer plant, which was already on fire, exploded. Hundreds of homes were also destroyed.
Both Puscejovsky and Kucscherousky said they'd just assumed by this point the fire was accidental, started by faulty wiring or something similar.
"If there is an arrest that’s going to hurt too, especially if it’s a local, you know," Puscejovsky said. "That’s going to be major, because we’re all here together and everything."
We took that concern to Elder from the ATF, after he revealed the fire had started in the seed room of the fertilizer plant.
We asked him if the agency was looking at employees of the fertilizer plant as possible suspects.
"I don’t want to get that specific," Elder said, mentioning he feels his agency is on the right track when it comes to finding who's responsible. He said they've interviewed more than 400 people over the course of three years, but now need the community's help. They're pleading for tips and offering a reward.
"The community didn’t deserve it," said McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna. "The people of this community are good, good solid people. They didn’t deserve it."
Pustejovsky, who lost her husband Joey in the explosion, released this statement today after the ATF announcement:
"I pray to God that they get caught and get the death penalty. No life deserves to be lost due to someone's stupidity criminal mind set."
And attorneys Steve Harrison and Zona Jones, who represent some of the families, released this statement through a spokesman:
“There has been some misinformation about what ATF was announcing today. As McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna and ATF Agent in Charge Robert Elder stated, the ATF is looking at the cause and origin of the fire. The storage of the ammonium nitrate that exploded was not part of the ATF investigation. The ATF did not investigate what exploded, why it exploded or who knew that it could explode. All of that is the subject of civil litigation to be heard by a McLennan County jury.”