Texas fertilizer plant explodes, 5-15 people dead, entire town devastated

[We Are Legion]

Believe me when I say... WATCH THIS VIDEO

[youtube]ROrpKx3aIjA[/youtube]

This happened yesterday evening in the small rural town of West, Texas, just north of Waco. The explosion was compared to a nuclear blast and could be felt 60-80 miles away. The middle school right next door to it is practically destroyed too.

Here's the CNN.com story...

As the sun rose Thursday over West, Texas, the scope of the small town's devastation came into fuller view: a gruesome, bloody scene, homes flattened to rubble, and scores of firefighters battling a raging blaze.

The massive, deadly blast at a fertilizer plant Wednesday night forced the evacuation of about half the town of about 2,800 people and left officials asking key questions: Was it a crime or an accident? How could it have happened?

"Nothing at this point indicates we have had criminal activity, but we are not ruling that out," said Sgt. William Patrick Swanton of the nearby Waco Police Department.

A more immediate question is how high the death toll will rise.

It could be between five and 15, Swanton said. Dr. George Smith, the city's emergency management system director, said it could spike to 60 or 70.
"We have two EMS personnel that are dead for sure, and there may be three firefighters that are dead," Smith said.

"There are a lot of people that will not be here tomorrow," Mayor Tommy Muska warned late Wednesday.

The Texas National Guard has sent 21 troops from a civil support team to monitor air quality near the blast, the Pentagon announced Thursday.
The White House said it is monitoring the situation through FEMA, which is in touch with state and local authorities. Federal authorities stand ready to help, a FEMA official said.

More than 160 people were injured when the explosion shook homes as far as 50 miles away. It measured as a 2.1-magnitude seismic event, according to the United States Geological Survey.

"It's overwhleming to us," Smith told CNN affiliate KCEN, with blood spattered all over his face from injuries he suffered. The town has only three ambulances, he said.

Between 50 and 60 homes in a five-block area suffered damage, officials said.

The explosion rocked the West Fertilizer Co. at about 7:50 p.m. (8:50 p.m. ET).

Patients were rushed to several hospitals. Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center reported five patients in intensive care -- two in critical condition, three in serious condition. At least 28 patients will be admitted, said hospital chief Glenn Robinson.

About half the community was evacuated, Muska said.

"It was like a nuclear bomb went off," he said of the blast. "Big old mushroom cloud."

"(It's) massive -- just like Iraq. Just like the Murrah (Federal) Building in Oklahoma City," said D.L. Wilson of the Texas public safety department.
The blast stripped a nearby apartment complex, with 50 units, of its walls and windows. "It was just a skeleton standing up," Wilson said.

A nursing home, with 133 residents, was quickly evacuated. A middle school also is located near the plant.

That is some seriously crazy ass shit.

 

[ThatGuyFromNukemHigh]

That video is insane, hope the kid gets her hearing back. Her father has to be kicking himself in the ass for having his daughter that close.

One weird thing I found about the report though, is that a school is close to a fertilizer plant. Glad I didn't have to sit and smell that while I was in school.

*edit* learned the child was his daughter, not son.

 

[Ozymandias]

Posted this is the shoutbox but I'll put it in here too. This is an image of the blast radius.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-...AAAAAI9Q/lUm31HwoD6g/s865/BIHGp4WCYAAJivp.png

 

[We Are Legion]

That video is insane, hope the kid gets his hearing back. His father has to be kicking himself in the ass for having his son that close.

One weird thing I found about the report though, is that a school is close to a fertilizer plant. Glad I didn't have to sit and smell that while I was in school.

This happened in the evening, nobody was there. And I'm pretty sure no one will be going to school there today since it's suffered crippling damage.

I looked up the area on Google Maps, and that school is fucking literally right across the street. You could walk to it in about 2 minutes from the front door of that building that exploded.

 

[We Are Legion]

Posted this is the shoutbox but I'll put it in here too. This is an image of the blast radius.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-...AAAAAI9Q/lUm31HwoD6g/s865/BIHGp4WCYAAJivp.png

I see I'm not the only one who looks this shit up on Google after the fact. God bless Google.

 

[ThatGuyFromNukemHigh]

This happened in the evening, nobody was there. And I'm pretty sure no one will be going to school there today since it's suffered crippling damage.

I looked up the area on Google Maps, and that school is fucking literally right across the street. You could walk to it in about 2 minutes from the front door of that building that exploded.

I meant the constant smell of fertilizer wafting into the school. I remember the smell of farms fertilizing in the spring, it was so bad we actually took detours when heading out to the campgrounds.

 

[Rated R Superstar]

Truly sad. There are reports that the plant wasn't exactly safe either. Don't know how accurate that is though.

 

[Chris]

Crazy fucking shit, I had friends in Waco just last week.

 

[We Are Legion]

It's just too bad the only good video we have of the explosion was taken by some redneck who apparently likes to watch his television sideways.

Oh... and brings his children with him to watch chemical fires burn up close.

 

[Weez]

Crazy shit. I'm only about an hour from West. Some are saying the ripple could be felt all the way to Cleburne, which is about 20 mins away from me, but god only knows if that's true.

For those talking about the proximity to the School. The town has a population of 2,800. It's a small Texas town best known for being between DFW and Waco..and also confusing Rednecks who aren't sure if you're talking about "West, Texas" or "West Texas." There isn't that much "town" anyway. Danger zone regardless of placement.

 

[Chris]

Yeah, the name of the town confused the fuck out of me too because I just heard that the explosion was near Waco, but then I heard people asking about the explosion in West, Texas, but I was all "Waco isn't out West."

 

[Deezy]

Saw this story break at like 2 in the morning, reporter was liike "noone knows the cause of the blast" and I was thinking, "it's a fertilizer plant" and there was a fire and shit explodes. But that was my 2 am brain and it isn't the same as fully awake mind.

Pretty crazy explosion, one would think an ingredient in bombs and close to residential areas would have safety guards for fires in case, you know fire gets close to a combustible like that.....iono.

 

[We Are Legion]

Yeah, the name of the town confused the fuck out of me too because I just heard that the explosion was near Waco, but then I heard people asking about the explosion in West, Texas, but I was all "Waco isn't out West."

It's funny you mentioned that because when I heard about the story, I went to the WFAA website first (Channel 8 News in Dallas) because I wasn't sure how severe the situation was, but I was sure a local Dallas station would be reporting on it at least. And dude... I swear to God... there was NO COMMA between "West" and "Texas" and it was saying "north of Waco" in the same sentence. I even posted my status update on Facebook right after saying "Apparently the blast was so big that Waco is apparently located in West Texas now... they weren't fucking around when they said 'nuclear blast'" or something like that, then I checked the article again a few minutes later and the comma was there (now reading "West, Texas") and there was a footnote that said "Last Updated 2 minutes ago" underneath the article. And this was a local news station. Just shows how confusing that place is.