ATF deploys elite team after deadly Tennessee explosion; search on for 18 missing
Rescuers waited hours to search Accurate Energetic Systems facility due to burning debris, secondary explosion risks
By Greg Norman Fox News
Published October 11, 2025 11:43am EDT | Updated October 11, 2025 11:44am EDT
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said it deployed an "elite team" Saturday to help investigate the massive explosion at a Tennessee manufacturing plant, where 18 people still remain missing.
Officials said "multiple" people were dead after the blast at Accurate Energetic Systems near Bucksnort, located about 50 miles west of Nashville, just before 8 a.m. local time Friday.
"ATF’s National Response Team is an elite team comprised of highly trained investigative experts, with state-of-the-art equipment, specializing in explosives, fire and bombing investigations," the agency said in a statement. "The team, which can deploy anywhere in the United States within 24 hours of notification, is made up of special agents, certified explosives specialists, bomb technicians, explosives enforcement officers, fire protection engineers, certified fire investigators, chemists, and other specialists."
"Team members, who are deploying from all over the country, are expected to arrive on scene today," the ATF added, noting that the team previously investigated "national-level incidents such as the 9/11 terrorist attack on the Pentagon; the Centennial Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta; the Oklahoma City bombing and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing."
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