VIDEO: Tucked away at a Buffalo fire station is the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' (ATF) National Response Team truck — a mobile unit filled with tools and tech to investigate fires and explosions anywhere in the nation.
“When we get on scene, we want to get right to work,” said Mark Meeks, ATF special agent in charge from the Albany field office. “We don’t want to have to think about where things are. We want to get right into it.”
The truck is organized exactly the same as all other NRT trucks in the country, so those trained in using it can always find what they need quickly. That could include tape measures, cotton swabs, tarps, shovels, etc. Anything that touched the debris of a scene is replaced after the investigation so it does not contaminate other evidence at a later scene.
This truck assisted in the Boston Marathon Bombing and most recently the March 2023 fire on Main Street that claimed the life of Buffalo Firefighter Jason Arno.