(Toone, TN) The ATF says the recent explosion at the Kilgore Flares plan was “non-criminal in nature and has classified it as an accidental explosion.”
Michael Chism, who was severely burned in Saturday’s explosion, died Monday night at the MED.
Doctors say he suffered third-degree burns to more than 90 percent of his body.
The ATF says the explosion happened in a mixing room.
The plant holds federal firearms and explosives licenses, and just last year the Department of Defense granted Kilgore another $20 million to manufacture decoy flares for the U.S. Army and Air Force.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Public Information Officer Special Agent Michael P. Knight told WREG Sunday that “a federal search warrant was executed at the business on Sunday after Kilgore wouldn’t let investigators onto the plant.”