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(NEW YORK) — Jack Teixeira, the 21-year-old junior enlisted airman with the Massachusetts Air National Guard, who has been charged as being behind the leak of classified U.S. military and U.S. intelligence documents had a high-level top security clearance that raises even more questions about why he had access to such documents in his work as an IT specialist.

The criminal complaint against Jack Teixeira released Friday disclosed that he possessed a high-level top secret clearance known as TS-SCI, Top Secret – Sensitive Compartmented Information, since 2021.

Teixeira worked as a full time active-duty Air National Guardsman at Otis Air National Guard Base, near Cape Cod, Massachusetts, as a “Cyber Transport Systems Journeyman” — essentially providing IT support for the 102nd Intelligence Wing.

Defense officials told ABC News that having a TS-SCI clearance is typical for Air Force personnel who in order to provide IT support might need access to classified spaces, computers and networks so they could do their jobs.

But the fact that you have a clearance does not mean you have access to everything at that level. That access is based on your “need to know” the information for your job.

That term refers to someone with a security clearance who is allowed to see certain levels of classified documents only if they “need to know” that information to carry out their jobs.

To service the computers and networks he worked on, Teixeira would’ve had access to highly sensitive networks, but if he wanted to access highly classified documents on that network for his job he could do so only if he had that clearance.

The “need to know” status is standard across the U.S. military and U.S. intelligence and means a top security clearance is not enough to be able to view specific intelligence documents.

The criminal complaint provides a description of how investigators used information from an unnamed U.S. government agency that “has access to logs of certain documents” to track how Teixeira allegedly used his clearance in February to look for a specific document that he later posted on a small Discord channel the following day.

Another logging system from another U.S. government agency that “can monitor certain searches conducted on its classified networks” indicated that Teixeira may have been concerned about the initial news reports that classified intelligence documents had begun to appear on Twitter and Telegram.

Teixeira on April 6 “used his government computer to search classified intelligence reporting for the word ‘leak,'” according to the complaint.

“The first public reporting regarding the Government Information appeared on or around April 6, 2023,” it added. “Accordingly, there is reason to believe that TEIXEIRA was searching for classified reporting regarding the U.S. Intelligence Community’s assessment of the identity of the individual who transmitted classified national defense information, to include the Government Document.”

Teixeira, who was arrested without incident at a residence in North Dighton, Massachusetts, on Thursday, has yet to enter a plea to the charges.

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(TENNESSEE) — A city-wide manhunt.

A police chase down the main street.

Social media sites filled with locals describing what they had just witnessed.

While these are usually the tell-tale signs of crisis, the small city of Harriman, Tennessee, witnessed a different kind of community-wide commotion on Wednesday when a local man’s pet emu escaped and prompted a slow-speed police chase to capture the giant bird.

“People were calling in that it was in their yard, and the first part of the morning, officers would go check and wouldn’t see him,” Harriman police chief Baron Tapp said. “And then somebody else would call and say, ‘Hey, the Emu is in my yard now’ or ‘It’s going over here over there.'”

“People were calling in that it was in their yard, and the first part of the morning, officers would go check and wouldn’t see him,” Harriman police chief Baron Tapp said. “And then somebody else would call and say, ‘Hey, the Emu is in my yard now’ or ‘It’s going over here over there.'”

The emu at the center of the commotion was MeeMoo of Harriman. Software programmer Harry McKinney helped hatch MeeMoo five years ago when a local hatchery’s incubator broke. McKinney described raising the emu on his 40-acre farm alongside sheep, turkeys, ducks, and other animals as a joy, or at least when MeeMoo stays in his enclosure.

He said that Wednesday’s escape began when MeeMoo hopped over his seven-foot enclosure fence.

“They have a flight or flight reflex, and he chose flight,” McKinney said. “He chose to run.”

Nearby residents tried to help spot MeeMoo, but after initial efforts failed, McKinney turned to social media for help locating the tall bird.

“The only thing we could do was put it on Facebook and just wait until somebody saw, and that did not disappoint,” McKinney said.

Steven McDaniel was planning on taking his dog for a car ride on Wednesday when he noticed the commotion in the normally quiet town.

“I went over, looked out, and there’s cop cars driving by at about three miles an hour,” he said.

McDaniel took out his phone to film and post a video of four police cruisers slowly driving behind the emu to capture the bird. The chase ended when the officers cornered MeeMoo near a local home surrounded by hedges. McKinney was enlisted to end the pursuit, calling his pet emu back to safety.

“I whistled, and he realized that dad was there,” he said. “And I went up, and I gave him a big hug.”

According to McKinney, the entire search took seven hours and stretched across 20 miles. No one was injured, and most residents appeared delighted by the affair, though some were slightly intimidated by confronting the five-foot tall bird.

“He just would hold its feathers like hold its wings straight out and come at you like ‘oh gosh, did it get mad or what,'” Tapp said about some of his officers’ encounters with MeeMoo.

While McKinney spoke affectionately about MeeMoo, he conceded that the emu could be intimidating.

“For us, he’s like a dog,” he said. “But for people that had never seen any emus before, it was a T-Rex coming down the sidewalk at them.”

Upon returning to his enclosure (now being reinforced with higher walls to prevent another escape), McKinney said MeeMoo immediately returned to his nest to care for his eggs. MeeMoo and his partner MeeMee are caring for multiple eggs, meaning that a new generation of emus might be antagonizing police in Harriman soon.

With video of the incident circulating widely on social media, many community members reacted with laughter and joy; even Tapp, whose police force had to confront the large bird, described the incident as a “good time” that brought the community together.

“We’ve had a lot of stuff going on here in Tennessee – the shootings in Nashville – we’ve had a couple of shootings here…,” McDaniel said. “It’s been a great thing for us as a community to be able to have a couple days [that bring] a smile on your face instead of just heartbreak.”

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(UVALDE) — Lawyers representing former Uvalde school police chief Pete Arredondo in multiple lawsuits stemming from the massacre last year at a Texas elementary school are being paid by the Uvalde school district’s insurance carrier, the district confirmed Friday.

“We are not writing checks for his legal fees, but our insurance coverage is paying,” interim schools Superintendent Gary Patterson told ABC News.

Patterson said he could not say how much the fees have run so far.

Mandy Gutierrez, who was principal when a gunman stormed Robb Elementary school on May 24, 2022, has also been awarded money from the insurance company for legal fees, Patterson said. Like Arredondo, Gutierrez is the defendant in a series of lawsuits stemming from the rampage. Nineteen students and two of their teachers were killed in the shooting.

The payments were first reported by the San Antonio Express-News.

Arredondo was fired last August after investigators found that he failed to properly lead police in responding to the active shooter situation as it unfolded at Robb. He has offered varying explanations about what happened and said he was being made a scapegoat. Arredondo’s conduct that day is being investigated and the local district attorney plans to have a grand jury review the events of May 24 to determine if anyone could be charged criminally. The gunman was killed when police, after more than an hour, stormed the classroom where he was holed up.

Despite the criticism of Arredondo, the superintendent said the district’s insurance carrier had no choice but to cover the former chief’s legal fees.

“He has not been charged with any crimes that I’m aware of,” said Patterson. “There was no reason, from the insurance perspective, not to provide him coverage.”

The claims awarded to Arredondo and Gutierrez will not affect the insurance rates paid by the district, Patterson said.

Neither Gutierrez or Arredondo – nor their lawyers – responded to requests from ABC News for comment.

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(TEXAS) — Four motorcyclists were shot, three fatally, at two locations along a Texas highway Friday in what appear to be connected incidents involving “outlaw motorcycle gangs,” authorities said.

The first incident occurred shortly after 11 a.m. local time on Interstate 45 in Spring, north of Houston, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.

Responding deputies found a 32-year-old man who had been shot with what initially appeared to be non-life-threatening injuries. The victim was transported to a local hospital but died Friday afternoon “despite extensive medical efforts,” the sheriff’s office said.

About an hour after the first incident, a second shooting was reported on I-45 in Huntsville, about 50 miles north, local police said.

Three male motorcyclists were found suffering from gunshot wounds, according to the Huntsville Police Department. Two of the victims — aged 43 and 69 — were pronounced dead at the scene, while a 61-year-old man was air-lifted to a Houston hospital, police said. No further information on his condition was released.

All three victims were “wearing clothing and insignia that indicated they were part of an outlaw motorcycle gang,” Huntsville Police said.

The first shooting also involved individuals “believed to be affiliated with outlaw motorcycle gangs,” the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said.

Authorities believe the two shootings are related, according to Huntsville Police, who said they are coordinating with the Texas Rangers on their investigation.

“These shootings appear to be gang-related and it is believed there is no threat to the general public at this time,” the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said.

Huntsville Police also said they believe there is no threat to the public and that the shootings “appear to be a gang-related targeted attack.”

The incidents are under investigation and no arrests have been announced.

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(SAN FRANCISCO) — A fellow tech executive killed 43-year-old Cash App founder Bob Lee earlier this month with a kitchen knife after driving him to a secluded area, prosecutors said in a court filing Friday.

Police arrested the suspect on Thursday and identified him as Nima Momeni, 38, who appears to be the owner of an Emeryville, California-based company called Expand IT.

In a motion filed on Friday to hold Momeni without bail, prosecutors offered new details about the events leading up to the alleged murder.

Lee, an executive at cryptocurrency firm MobileCoin, was killed in the early morning hours on April 4 in the San Francisco neighborhood of Rincon Hill, the San Francisco Police Department said last week.

During the previous afternoon, Lee spent time with Momeni’s sister and a witness, who identified him or herself as a close friend of Lee, prosecutors said.

Later in the day, at Lee’s hotel room, he had a conversation with Momeni in which he asked Lee about whether his sister was “doing drugs or anything inappropriate,” the witness told the police, according to the document.

Lee reassured Momeni that nothing inappropriate had taken place, the witness said to police.

Early the following morning, at about 2 a.m., camera footage showed Lee and Momeni leaving Lee’s hotel and getting into Momeni’s car, a BMW Z4, prosecutors said.

Video shows the BMW drive to a secluded and dark area where the two men got out of the car. Momeni “moved toward” Lee and the BMW drove away from the scene at high speed, according to the court document.

Police later found a roughly 4-inch blade at the scene that appeared to have blood on it, the document said.

The doctor who conducted the autopsy found that Lee had been stabbed three times, including one strike that penetrated his heart, the document said.

“Mr. Momeni was taken into custody without incident in Emeryville and transported to San Francisco County jail and booked on a charge of murder,” San Francisco Police Chief William Scott said at a briefing on Thursday. “Our investigators have been working tirelessly to make this arrest.”

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins on Thursday applauded the efforts of the SFPD.

“While in some cases we do immediately have as suspect, that was not the situation here,” she said. “Mr. Lee’s killer has been identified, arrested, and now will be brought to justice.”

“He positively affected millions of people throughout his life. He had an overarching need to make technology accessible, and to help out everyone,” Bob Lee’s brother Timothy Oliver Lee said in a statement Thursday. “Bob’s dream was to make technology free and available.”

“Every day around the world, people interact with technology that Bob helped create. Bob will live on through these interactions and his dreams of improving all of our lives,” Timothy Oliver Lee’s statement continued. “As a family, we’re very thankful to the hard working Detectives at the SFPD for bringing his killer to Justice.”

London Breed, the mayor of San Francisco, said in a statement to ABC News last week that Lee’s death marks a “horrible tragedy.”

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(NEW YORK) — The U.S. Space Force, operating under the Department of the Air Force, became the nation’s newest branch of the military after then-President Donald Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act in 2019.

“Now is the time to establish a team, a separate service totally focused on organizing, training and equipping space forces,” Barbara Barrett, Secretary of the Air Force, said at a Pentagon press conference at the time.

Under President Joe Biden’s 2024 budget request unveiled last month, funding to the Space Force would increase to $30 billion to “meet evolving threats” and “protect U.S. interests in space,” a Space Force statement said. Maj. Gen. John Olson, mobilization assistant to the chief of space operations for the U.S. Space Force, spoke to ABC News’ Linsey Davis about why the U.S. military is preparing for potential conflict in space.

LINSEY DAVIS: As humanity continues to reach for the stars, the U.S. is trying to keep pace with nations like China and Russia in space. And joining us now for more is Maj. Gen. John Olson, who is the mobilization assistant to the chief of space operations for the U.S. Space Force at the Pentagon. Thank you so much for your time, General Olsen. Appreciate you joining us here.

JOHN OLSON: Thank you. It’s a pleasure to be with you, Linsey.

DAVIS: So let’s just start for the viewers at home who are saying, “Why should I care about potential conflict in space?” What’s the answer?

OLSON: Well, you know, space is absolutely essential to every part of our life. You know, we wake up in the morning, we check the weather, we drive to work with position navigation and timing, which is GPS. We have all of our banking and transactions done. So it’s really pivotal to every part of our life. But it’s also critical to the modern way of integrated deterrence and defense and national security. So it’s vitally important that we maintain our leadership in space. And so that’s really what the Space Force is focused on. It’s bringing that sense of stability, security and safety to the environment.

DAVIS: And you mentioned GPS, for example. Obviously, this relies on critical satellites that are there in space. Should we be concerned? Are those under threat?

OLSON: Well, you know, our global positioning system, we’re celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. So it’s really a big milestone for us. And as we already mentioned, it’s so critical to almost every facet of our life. So we are really focused on a resilient and effective space architecture, not just with the global positioning system, but also with all of our space architectures. And so that’s our paradigm that we’re pursuing through our investments to transform into a much more resilient and effective space architecture.

DAVIS: You know, when we talk about countries like China and Russia, and they seem to be really trying to fast track their increased space technology. And there are some who fear that the U.S. is losing that race. Would you agree?

OLSON: No, I wouldn’t. I think we have had a strong leadership position in space, and that’s civil, commercial, national security in international space through our close partners and allies. But we’re trying to keep pace, not just with our ground systems, but our launch vehicles and our satellites and on orbit systems, through not just Earth-centric — through geosynchronous orbit, low Earth orbit — but also looking at cislunar and lunar space and further.

DAVIS: What kind of resources would you say that the Space Force needs?

OLSON: Well, the Space Force has been genuinely pretty well blessed. Our president’s budget submit is about $30 billion a year, which represents $2.6 billion more than last year. And I think that’s a real recognition of the critical importance to not just our nation, but our national security and defense. And so as we look at the funding and investments, I think we’ve got a huge amount of modernization and development transformation to do and that also ties to our people, the most important facet of what we’re doing. We really have three lines of effort: fielding capable and ready combat forces, driving our guardian spirit, and last, it’s partnering to win.

DAVIS: And so I think you kind of just answered the question I was about to ask, but I am curious, because there are going to be people who say, “well, look, we have hunger and homelessness down here on this planet. What are you doing with the $30 billion?” Can you kind of give us an applicable way that people would say, “Oh, OK, I guess I understand why that’s necessary”?

OLSON: Sure. Absolutely. Well, Earth imaging helps us leverage and use our scarce resources in the most efficient and productive way. It allows us to operate more safely and more securely and more efficiently here on Earth. So that which we spend in space safeguards all the aspects and attributes of our life here on Earth. And it also is an important enabler, because as we look at the, you know, that innate desire to explore and discover, I think the information and new knowledge that we’re learning benefits all of humankind.

DAVIS: It feels like a big job. I’m just curious, with all of the wealth of knowledge that you have, is there anything in particular, if there’s one thing, that keeps you up at night, what is that?

OLSON: Well, you know, it is a big job. But we’ve got a great group of people. And, you know, our guardians and airmen across the portfolio are extremely capable, talented and qualified. But the one thing that I think keeps me up at night and that is, as we look at cybersecurity, there is no space without cyber. And so we need to ensure that we’re continually investing and being vigilant and diligent in that domain. And so that’s a core part of our broader national security imperatives, and so that’s what we’re focused on. And I think you should sleep well knowing that our guardians and airmen are hard at work.

DAVIS: All right. Hopefully, we’ll all be able to get a little more rest knowing that. General Olson, we thank you so much for your time and insight. Appreciate it.

OLSON: Thank you very much, Linsey.

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(BOSTON) — The 21-year-old arrested in connection with the leaked documents probe has been charged with unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information and willful retention of classified documents, which collectively carry a maximum of 15 years in prison.

Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air Force National Guard, made his initial appearance before a federal magistrate in Boston on Friday morning.

Teixeira walked into court in a beige smock and pants with a black T-shirt underneath. He entered in handcuffs, which were removed before he sat at the defense table with his attorney. Teixeira appeared to briefly scan the crowd while in his seat.

Three people sat on a bench in the front row reserved for relatives of the defendant.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nadine Pellegrini sought pretrial detention, which was granted pending the outcome of a hearing on Wednesday.

Teixeira was taken into custody in Massachusetts on Thursday “in connection with an investigation into alleged unauthorized removal, retention and transmission of classified national defense information,” Attorney General Merrick Garland announced.

Media reports have described the U.S. intelligence documents — which seem to contain top-secret information about the Ukraine war and other parts of the world — as being shared among a small group of users on Discord before getting wider notice.

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(LOUISVILLE, Ky.) — The brain of Louisville, Kentucky, mass shooting suspect Connor Sturgeon will be tested for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, commonly known as CTE, a family spokesperson told ABC News.

The results of the testing will take several weeks, spokesperson Pete Palmer said.

Sturgeon, 25, allegedly killed five people and injured eight others in Monday’s mass shooting at Old National Bank. Sturgeon, who worked at the bank, was armed with an AR-15 and was killed by officers at the scene.

CTE is a degenerative brain disease found in those with a history of repetitive brain trauma — often athletes and veterans.

Former NFL player Phillip Adams, who police said killed six people in Rock Hill, South Carolina, in 2021, had CTE at the time he carried out the mass shooting, according to the Boston University CTE Center. CTE can only be formally diagnosed after an autopsy. Adams, who spent 21 years playing tackle football, died from a self-inflicted gunshot after the shooting.

According to the Louisville Courier Journal, Sturgeon experienced multiple concussions from playing sports as a child.

Sturgeon’s mother called 911 the morning of the shooting, telling the dispatcher, “He’s never hurt anyone, he’s a really good kid.”

The suspect’s family said in a statement Tuesday, “While Connor, like many of his contemporaries, had mental health challenges which we, as a family, were actively addressing, there were never any warning signs or indications he was capable of this shocking act. While we have many unanswered questions, we will continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement officials and do all we can to aid everyone in understanding why and how this happened.”

“No words can express our sorrow, anguish, and horror at the unthinkable harm our son Connor inflicted on innocent people, their families, and the entire Louisville community,” the family added.

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(NEW YORK) — The classified U.S. intelligence documents that authorities believe were leaked in a Discord channel by a member of the Massachusetts Air Force National Guard who was arrested Thursday may have made it to the wider internet through the actions of a different young Discord user who shared them further, according to the administrator of another channel.

The admin, who goes by the username Krralj, told ABC News that he and other admins on the “wow mao” Discord server where some of the documents were shared in March spoke with a user with the name Lucca who shared the documents there after originally seeing them on another server.

FBI agents on Thursday arrested National Guard member Jack Teixeira, 21, in connection with the original leaked documents.

“Today’s arrest exemplifies our continued commitment to identifying, pursuing, and holding accountable those who betray our country’s trust and put our national security at risk,” the FBI said in a statement.

Krralj told ABC News in an interview that when he realized the material had been posted to a Discord chat server dedicated to a YouTube creator with some 243,000 subscribers, he scrambled to contain the damage.

“We were trying to damage control — get rid of the files,” Krralj, who told ABC News he is a 21-year-old college student in the Balkans, said. “Very, very quickly the chat was purged of all the messages. Afterwards, the entire chat itself was deleted.”

“We didn’t even want the documents to be spread … we don’t want to spread dangerous documents to danger lives of people,” he said.

ABC News has not verified Krralj’s real name or specific location.

After images of the documents were shared on the “wow mao” server in early March, the documents appeared on March 4 on another Discord server dedicated to the online game Minecraft, and later, on April 5, spread much wider, appearing on the website 4chan and on a pro-Russian Telegram channel.

Krralj described Lucca as young, and said he was one of the more active users in the community, adding that he was even on the server while in school during the day. He said that Lucca had been a member of the group before he joined in 2021.

“He was still like, a little kid on the server. He was a good kid, you know? He’s mid to late teens. And like he was, he’s always active … He joined the voice call to listen … when he was in school,” Krralj said.

“He is a hyperactive kid and he wants to tell everyone everything all the time,” he added.

ABC News is withholding Lucca’s name. When reached for comment, Lucca’s father told ABC News, “I am not going to talk. Please be respectful, we are dealing with kids.”

According to Krralj and other channel members, most on the server ignored the photos of the documents when they were initially posted, assuming they weren’t legitimate.

“We all thought they were fake,” Krralj said.

A review of publicly available content on the server where images of the alleged documents were posted points to pervasive racism, antisemitism and references to sexual violence. As in many niche online communities, this group appears to have a language of its own and it is difficult to discern sincere statements from ironic ones.

When asked about the content on the server, Krralj did not deny that there are members who have far right and racist views. He went on to describe the community as “a bunch of s— posters” who are “clinically online and spend way too much time on the internet.”

Asked about the documents, another admin who goes by the username Dag told ABC News, “Management believed they were either fake, already leaked documents, or a combination of both.”

Dag, who also interacted with the user Lucca, said Lucca was “mainly posting memes, playing video games with people” but also “had an interest in the theological side of the server.”

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(RICHMOND, Ind.) — A large fire at an Indiana recycling plant is now fully extinguished, officials said Thursday, while an evacuation order for more than 2,000 residents remains in place.

“The fire has been fully extinguished ahead of schedule,” Richmond Mayor Dave Snow tweeted. “We’re now able to turn our attention to collecting air and water samples to determine when the evacuation order can be lifted.”

Any resident within a half-mile radius of the plant in Richmond, Indiana, was ordered to evacuate due to the “large industrial fire” on Tuesday afternoon, local officials said.

The evacuation zone impacts approximately 2,011 residents, according to a representative from the Wayne County Emergency Management Office. Officials haven’t given residents the all-clear to return to their homes.

Anyone downwind of the incident should shelter in place, according to officials.

Officials on Thursday set up transportation for residents to quickly go back to their homes to get medication or any other needs. Those who go to their residences will be escorted by law enforcement, have to wear an N95 mask and will only have a short amount of time to enter, according to Snow.

“The smoke is definitely toxic,” Indiana State Fire Marshal Stephen Jones had previously told reporters during a press briefing. “We don’t want the residents in the smoke. As the wind changes, we may change the direction of the evacuations.”

A firefighter who responded to the scene injured his ankle after he fell down a ravine, according to Richmond Fire Chief Tim Brown. He was treated at a local hospital and has since been released.

A second firefighter was also injured Wednesday night while they were assisting and was overcome by heat, according to Brown. The firefighter was treated and released.

The fire was reported sometime after 2 p.m. local time Tuesday and has since been contained, Brown said. The fire is expected to burn for several days, Jones said, who also confirmed that they are conducting air monitoring.

The plant, located near the Indiana-Ohio border, is owned in part by the city of Richmond and in part by a private citizen, according to Brown.

“He has been warned several times,” the city fire chief told reporters Tuesday. “We have an unsafe citation that was issued to him. We don’t know exactly when that was but we were aware of the situation and we were dealing with the situation.”

At a press conference Wednesday, Mayor Snow was adamant that the business owner will be held accountable.

The building is the former Hoffco/Comet Industries plant, which produced lawn and garden products for 60 years before closing in 2009, according to a situation report from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

The facility now processes recyclables, including plastics, according to Jones.

“There’s a host of different chemicals plastics give off when they’re on fire, so it’s concerning,” the state fire marshal told reporters Tuesday.

Brown said the property is about 14 acres and there is plastic everywhere. There are piles of plastic both inside and outside the buildings and semi-trailers filled with plastic. When asked how much is estimated to have burned, Brown said he estimates about 13 ½ acres of the property have burned.

During a telephone interview with ABC News on Tuesday, Snow called the fire a “worst-case scenario” and voiced concern for the air quality in the city, which is home to more than 35,000 people.

“This is something we never wanted to see happen,” Snow said.

“We want everyone to limit their exposure to that black smoke and stay far away from the area,” he added. “Not only is it a dangerous area right now … limiting your exposure to this black smoke is the best thing for your health.”

A community help line will be established, and Richmond Community Schools were closed Wednesday.

Jason Sewell of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency told ABC News Thursday that samples have tested positive for chrysotile asbestos. The agency is urging residents who may have debris in their front yards to not mow the grass over fears asbestos in the debris may get kicked up into the air.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan told reporters that the agency was on the ground in Richmond within hours of the fire and began monitoring at 15 mobile locations.

“The EPA team is on the ground and will collect debris samples in surrounding communities to determine whether asbestos-containing materials may have been left at the site,” Regan said Wednesday.

Richmond resident Aaron Stevens told ABC News that he saw a “huge pillar of smoke” and heard “explosions and pops” from his home, located roughly a half mile from the plant.

“There is an odor, a burning odor,” Stevens said. “What is more disheartening is the fact that I’m hearing explosions and pops this far away.”

Stevens’ home is located within the evacuation zone, though he said he has opted not to leave because he is hobbled by a knee injury. The police officer and school board member said he has a plan if he gets another evacuation alert.

“If it gets to the point where I realize that this is really going to be unsafe, I’m within just a minute or two away from having someone come and get me,” Stevens said.

Richmond resident Brad Walton described what smelled like burning tires from his home, located about 5 miles from the fire.

“It’s just not a good smell,” Walton told ABC News, adding that he could see the smoke plume in Hamilton, Ohio, roughly 35 miles away.

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