Full Answer
In fact, he added that, according to the government’s own theory of the case, Sheppard and the others went to the highway construction site to steal tools and that they set the fires merely to cover up their crime.
As it turns out, the “trailer” that was on fire actually was an explosives magazine . At 4:04, Pumper 41 contacted Battalion Chief 107, who had been dispatched to the incident. Pumper 41 indicated that “Apparently, this thing’s already blowed up, Chief. He’s got magnesium or something burning up here.” At 4:08, 22 minutes after Pumper 41 arrived and 16 minutes after Pumper 30 arrived, the magazine exploded, killing all six firefighters assigned to Pumper 41 and Pumper 30.
What the six responding firefighters didn’t know was the burning trailers contained tens of thousands of pounds of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil, volatile explosives being used in the highway construction.
Both explosions left large craters. The crater from the first explosion was approximately 80 feet in diameter and eight feet deep; the second blast left a crater about 100 feet in diameter and eight feet deep. It was reported by the Kansas City Fire Department that the first explosion involved a split load of materials in the trailer/magazine. One compartment held 3,500 pounds of ammonium nitrate/fuel oil (ANFO) mixture. The rest of the contents were 17,000 pounds of ANFO mixture with 5% aluminum pellets. The second trailer/magazine contained about 1,000 30-pound “socks” of ANFO mixture with 5% aluminum pellets. (In comparison, the Oklahoma City bombing involved 5,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate.) Pumper 41 was damaged beyond recognition by the explosion. Pumper 30 received significant damage as well, but could still be identified as a fire department vehicle.
on Friday denied the request of Darlene Edwards, who argued that her age, underlying health conditions and risk of contracting COVID-19 were reasons to reduce her sentence to time served.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (CN) — A man who spent 19 years in prison for a deadly arson fire in Kansas City, Missouri, sued the Department of Justice for information he says will prove his innocence — and the innocence of still-imprisoned co-defendants.
Others claimed their statements to the federal investigators were ignored because they did not align with those of other witnesses who were either coerced or incentivized with money or reduced jail time.”
Newly released government documents involving a 1988 arson fire that killed six Kansas City firefighters affirm the guilt of five people who were convicted of the crime but also find that two other individuals may have been involved.
The arson occurred in the early morning hours of Nov. 29, 1988, at a highway construction site near U.S. 71 and 87 th Street. A fire was set in a small pickup truck belonging to one of the security guards, Deborah Riggs.
At trial, the government’s theory of the case was that the defendants set the fire to divert attention from or to cover up their planned theft of tools from the construction site.
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