A spark probably caused an explosion that tore through a fireworks warehouse and killed three people on the eve of July Fourth festivities, investigators said.
"We're leaning toward static electricity, some kind of spark," Kilgore Police Chief Ronnie Moore said Friday.
The anguished owner of the warehouse expressed sympathy for the three dead employees, which include his own father, hours after their bodies were found.
"I ask you to pray for the peace and comfort of us and all that are hurting," a teary-eyed Joe Lamb read from a handwritten statement.
"Three wonderful people ... tragically lost their lives doing something they truly loved to do."
The three workers' bodies were recovered early Friday.
Five people suffered minor injuries in Thursday's blast at Pyrotechnics by Lamb Co.'s warehouse, and the warehouse and six nearby houses were damaged or destroyed.
Twelve fireworks displays planned Friday night in east Texas cities were cancelled, including Kilgore.
On Wednesday, a truck packed with fireworks exploded in Bonita Springs, Fla., killing five workers who had been unloading the shipment for Independence Day displays there and in Naples.
On Friday, ATF officials wrapped up their on-the-ground probe of the Florida explosion.
A report is expected within two weeks.
That blast also appeared to be accidental, investigators said.
Bonita Springs, Fla., Mayor Paul Pass led a moment of silence Friday for the 5 killed by the Florida explosion before the city's annual Fourth of July parade.
Another observance was planned in Naples, Fla. Lamb's business was appropriately registered and had no prior problems, said Clay Alexander, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent.
Kilgore police identified the victims as Marvin Lamb, Melinda Edmundson, 25, and Martin Donner, 58. Marvin Lamb's age was not available.
Mr. Donner was a pyrotechnician who was helping set up eight fireworks displays when the explosions occurred, said his daughter Sarah, 29.
He was a former firefighter and aviation professor at LeTourneau University, she said.
"He was a very loving, compassionate, caring man who loved God first of all, and his family and everyone around him," she said.
The blasts shot fireworks and other debris several blocks in this town 115 miles southeast of Dallas.
About 25 people were displaced, including 15 who were in one home where relatives had gathered for the holiday weekend.
The American Red Cross was helping them find places to stay and secure their homes.
Left behind were charred houses with buckled roofs, missing shingles and flattened fences.