Texas Factory Blows Up!

[Ocklawaha]

A massive explosion has rocked a fertilizer plant near Waco, Texas. Dozens are feared dead and more than 160 were injured in the disaster. Rescuers have to deal with toxic fumes contaminating the neighborhood.

The explosion occurred Wednesday around 7:50pm local time [00:50 GMT Thursday] in the town of West, north of Waco. A fireball of nearly 30 meters high has been reported along with a massive power outage.

The US Geological Survey registered the explosion as a 2.1 magnitude quake, adding that “the magnitude measures only the ground motion, not the air wave, so is substantially less than the true size of the event.”

The remains of a fertilizer plant burn after an explosion at the plant in the town of West, near Waco, Texas early April 18, 2013 (Reuters / Mike Stone)

The blast followed a fire at the plant, which is thought to have started in an anhydrous ammonia tank before spreading to the buildings at the plant.

CBS 11 claims none of the plant’s employees were on duty at the time of the explosion.

“Things just blew up,” the owner of the fertilizer plant in West reportedly told the channel’s Ginger Allen.

There is no official fatality count yet. Police reported that between five and 15 people are estimated to have been killed, including the firefighters responding to the initial fire at the plant and a law official. Dozens are feared to have died in the disaster.

The neighborhood itself sustained significant damage, with buildings close to the explosion literarily leveled. The Department of Public Safety reported that 50 to 75 residences have been damaged in West. DPS spokesman DL Wilson compared the scale of destruction to the wartime Iraq and the 1995 bombing of the Albert P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/apps/cvp/3.0/swf/cnn_embed_2x_container.swf?site=cnn&profile=desktop&context=embed&videoId=us/2013/04/18/erin-texas-fertilizer-explosion-witness.cnn&contentId=us/2013/04/18/erin-texas-fertilizer-explosion-witness.cnn

[thelakelander]

I can't figure out how to post this but here's a better video of what actually happened:

http://youtu.be/ROrpKx3aIjA

[Cheshire Cat]

This horrible tragedy has fallen into the shadow of events in Boston.  Currently there are twelve confirmed deaths with 200 injured.  Some people are still missing.  The sizable blast devastated several blocks.

Associated Press   

WEST, Texas (AP) â€" The bodies of 12 people have been recovered from the remnants of a tiny Texas farm town that was rocked by a roaring explosion at a fertilizer plant, authorities said Friday, confirming for the first time the number of people who perished in the accident.

SLIDESHOW OF THE EXPLOSION

Officials did not identify those killed, but the dead were believed to include a small group of firefighters and other first-responders who rushed toward the West Fertilizer Co. to battle a fire that apparently touched off the blast.

Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Jason Reyes said he could not confirm how many first-responders had been killed. Efforts to search the devastated buildings were continuing, he added.

The Wednesday evening explosion was strong enough to register as a small earthquake and could be heard for many miles across the Texas prairie. It demolished nearly everything for several blocks around the plant. More than 200 people were hurt.

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/2013-04-19/story/official-12-bodies-recovered-after-texas-blast#ixzz2Qvv6wmEZ

[spuwho]

All I could think of was the number of homes that live in and around industrial areas on the Jax north side.

Also that nice little T2 explosion.

[thelakelander]

^So true.  I know some have argued against zoning on this site before but there's something to be said of separating residential from heavy industrial. 

[I-10east]

This horrible tragedy has fallen into the shadow of events in Boston.

That's really a damn shame too. I think that the media and government alike really overly romanticize these elite 'cosmopolitan' cities like Boston; If that bombing happened in Greensboro, NC trust me there would not be an interfaith prayer seen on all broadcast TV the next morning; With three dead and some injured, you would think that it was 911 2.0 or something.  Far as I'm concerned, what happened in Texas was far more tragic than the Marathon, by the simple fact there were MORE DEATHS & INJURIES in that explosion, but hey what do I know? Just my 2.

[Cheshire Cat]

The devastation in Texas is truly horrible.  There is a huge crater where the fertilizer plant once stood.  Fourteen verified deaths with over 200 injured.  What an horrific event for all those impacted.  Many of the injured were first responders.

Authorities have identified four more sets of remains of first responders who battled last week's fire and explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas. Wednesday's blast and injured more than 200, according to officials cited by .

Meanwhile, survivors from the small town north of Waco gathered Sunday to remember those who were lost, and to offer thanks that they were still alive. And, as over the weekend, some residents in parts of West that bore the brunt of the blast at the West Fertilizer Co. were allowed to return home.

on Morning Edition that some people lost everything; others, such as town dentist Larry Sparks, consider themselves lucky:

"It's just a matter of sweeping up the glass, and one of our front doors was demolished â€" it blew it completely in," Sparks tells NPR. "But it's very minimal damage compared to what some of these other folks have suffered."

According to Reuters, the plant was storing 270 tons of highly volatile ammonium nitrate fertilizer that should have been reported to the Department of Homeland Security but was not. The Texas Department of State Health Services was aware of the dangerous chemical but failed to alert DHS, the news agency reports.

Michele Scott, principal of the town's elementary school, lost her house in the explosion. She says she's been asked numerous times by people why the local high school and intermediate school were built so close to a potentially dangerous chemical plant.

"We built around the fertilizer plant," she tells NPR. "Looking back at that, it probably wasn't so smart. No one ever dreamed it would be a tragedy like this.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/04/22/178393531/bodies-of-first-responders-identified-from-texas-explosion