And the Angels Shall Burn
As a follow-on to our initial article highlighting the intentional use of fire as a weapon, we thought it’d be interesting to discuss this as it relates to a case closer to home.
Imagine that you dropped of your child at their elementary school, as you usually do on your way to work. It is a nice, sunny day in May. The birds are chirping, the flowers are continuing to bloom, and the smell of fresh cut grass is in the air. You kiss you child goodbye, and promise to take them to the movies after you pick them up, to see the latest Pixar movie that is coming to the theater near you. They flash you a quick smile and look, before turning around to meet their friends before walking into school for the day.
You arrive at your job a little after 8, and begin planning for a fun-filled day with a few meetings, while also attempting to purchase the movie tickets, trying to ease the process for later. Maybe we’ll just grab some pizza after the movie, you think to yourself, opposed to having to plan an elaborate meal for dinner. Then, just prior to nine o’clock, your cell phone begins ringing with a municipal phone number from the town you live in… What could this be about? Is this a warning about upcoming mosquito spraying in my neighborhood again…? You answer the phone, to be greeted with a robocall message, asking you to come to the high school immediately. Why would I have to go to the high school? you wonder. Your child attends the elementary school on the other side of town. Your pulse begins to rise.
You leave work and begin heading back home to the high school, still not knowing what is going on. You turn on the AM radio station, and hear a breaking news report of a school that is on fire in your home town, with multiple injuries, and it possibly being a result of an explosion. Your heart immediately sinks into the pit of your stomach, thinking the worst, as your foot becomes heavier on the accelerator while speeding to the high school.
When you arrive, you are directed by a local police officer to park in a lot off to the side, and then told to head to the school’s gymnasium, where school and emergency officials have set up an information area and family reunification center. You’re among hundreds of panicked and concerned parents, trying to gain any small piece of assurance that their sons or daughters are alright, still not knowing the immensity and gravity of the situation. After giving your name, and the name of your child, you are directed down the hall to a classroom where they are processing your child’s whereabouts. Still no answers… When you walk into the classroom, you are met with a massive sigh of relief… your child is sitting behind a desk, slightly sooty from the fire that consumed their school, but well otherwise.
This story is based on what happened in Bath Township, Michigan on May 18, 1927, when Andrew Kehoe, the school board treasurer detonated hundreds of pounds of dynamite in the basement of the Bath Consolidated School, killing 38 elementary school children, 6 adults, and injuring an additional 58 people. Kehoe was angry at the fact that he had lost his bid for permanent town clerk, as well as having his farm foreclosed upon resulting from Kehoe’s failure to make payments on it. To further his troubles, Kehoe’s wife, Nellie was ill with tuberculosis, and was requiring increased medical care; further sending the Kehoes into debt. It is estimated that sometime between May 16 and May 18th, Kehoe had murdered his wife, and set his farmhouse ablaze, along with the stables where he kept his livestock. Witnesses reported seeing Kehoe driving away from his house while responding firefighters were driving up the road. Kehoe was on his way to the school house that was on a timed fuse, set to detonate at 8:45 in the morning. When Kehoe arrived at the school, the north wing had already detonated, and rescuers were already hard at work. Kehoe used a rifle he had brought with him to detonate a shrapnel packed carbomb, killing himself, the school superintendant as well as several other bystanders.
This story hits on two major themes that professionals within the homeland security domain should be aware of: 1) Intentional Use of Fire as a Weapon, and 2) The threat from a Malicious Insider. Andrew Kehoe was a trusted member of the school board, and had full access to the Bath Consolidated Schoolhouse. When the triggering event in Kehoe’s life occurred, more than likely with the eve of his house going into foreclosure, as well as losing the town clerk position, Kehoe spiraled downward into a evil plan to destroy the school and kill as many school children as possible. Over the course of a few months, Kehoe had been purchasing and planting his explosives in the basement of the school. During rescue operations, personnel reported finding an additional 500 lbs of dynamite, wired to an alarm clock as a detonator, which had failed to ignite. He had intended to destroy the entire school.
As responders, we need to remain aware of the immediate threat of trusted insiders within organizations, and their propensity to turn to violence when significant events turn them down a dark path. People’s whose patterns take a drastic turn for the worst, deserve a second look, as something could be wrong in their life. Sometimes this critical opportunity for intervention is all that is required to interdict and prevent a catastrophic event from happening. Another concern that is heavily stressed upon to those responding to fire and explosives calls is the legitimate concern for secondary devices. In Kehoe’s case, he used his vehicle to create a Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED), with the intention of inflicting more casualties upon his arrival at the school.
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