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Deadly Explosion in West, Texas.


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Quoted from CNN:

 

 

(CNN) -- A massive explosion at a fertilizer plant in the small Texas town of West left at least two people dead, leveled several homes and prompted a widescale evacuation in the community of 2,600 people.

"It was a like a nuclear bomb went off," Mayor Tommy Muska said. "Big old mushroom cloud. There are a lot of people that got hurt. There are a lot of people that will not be here tomorrow."

Fire officials fear that the number of casualties could rise as high as 60 to 70 dead, said Dr. George Smith, the emergency management system director of the city.

"That's a really rough number, I'm getting that figure from firefighters, we don't know yet," he said.

"We have two EMS personnel that are dead for sure, and there may be three firefighters that are dead."

The blast took place at the West Fertilizer Plant, about 18 miles north of Waco, about 8:50 p.m. ET.

It sent a massive fireball into the sky. Flames leaped over the roof of a structure and a plume of smoke rose high into the air.

"There are lots of houses that are leveled within a two-block radius," Smith said. "A lot of other homes are damaged as well outside that radius."

He estimated that between 10 to 15 buildings were demolished and about 50 damaged.

And the danger may not be over.

Residents are being evacuated because officials are worried that another tank at the facility might explode.

"What we are hearing is that there is one fertilizer tank that is still intact at the plant, and there are evacuations in place to make sure everyone gets away from the area safely in case of another explosion," said Ben Stratmann, a spokesman for Texas State Sen. Brian Birdwell.

State troopers in gas masks set up roadblocks, waving away cars coming off the highway.

The Federal Aviation Administration instituted a flight restriction over the town. Schools will be closed for the rest of the week, and the school district urged everyone to stay away from school property.

Shortly after the explosion, more than 60 patients streamed into Hillcrest Hospital in Waco, suffering from "blast injuries, orthopedic injuries (and) a lot of lacerations," said hospital CEO Glenn Robinson.

While some of the injuries are minor, others are "quite serious," he said.

At least six helicopters are going to fly out those who are injured, Robinson said. Others are being transported by ambulance, and some are getting to the hospital by car, he added.

Two other hospitals in the region were also assisting.

The West Fertilizer Plant is just north of Waco. A school and a nursing home are among the buildings near the plant, CNN affiliate KWTX reported.

Smith, the EMS director, said he didn't know whether there were casualties reported in the nursing home.

Tommy Alford, who works in a convenience store about three miles from the plant, told CNN that several volunteer firefighters were at the store when they spotted smoke. Alford said the firefighters headed toward the scene and then between five and 10 minutes later, he heard a massive explosion.

"It was massive; it was intense," Alford said.

Chrystal Anthony, a nearby resident, said she saw the flames engulf the nursing home and an apartment complex.

"It was an apartment complex that was devastated, the nursing home. The fire was close to a residential area," Anthony said.

"It was like a bomb went off," said Barry Murry, a resident who lives about a mile away from the plant. "There were emergency vehicles everywhere. It has been overwhelming."

Sitting about 75 miles south of Dallas and 120 miles north of Austin, West is one of 22 incorporated communities in McLennan County.

Some firefighters at the scene of a fertilizer plant explosion in Texas were concerned Wednesday night about anhydrous ammonia.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, anhydrous ammonia is a pungent gas with suffocating fumes that is used as a fertilizer.

When exposed to humans, it can cause serious problems

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Thoughts and prayers go out to those effected and first responders.

 

11:12PM Update - Presser just finished - the mayor of West, Tommy Muska, says that a 5-6 block area very heavily damaged, that area has been evacuated - he asked for prayers for the community. Their #1 goal is going door to door looking for injured and survivors. He is a firefighter himself and was on his way to fight the fire when the explosion occurred. He issued somber words - "A lot of people will not be here tomorrow."

 

 

 

Edited by AndrewL129
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60-75 homes destroyed, apartment complex is just skeletal remains

Law Enforcement official who have a brief conference sad it's like the Oklahoma bombing, destruction wise

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60-75 homes destroyed, apartment complex is just skeletal remains

Law Enforcement official who have a brief conference sad it's like the Oklahoma bombing, destruction wise

it is extremely sad. all homes with in 5-6 block radius of the explosion are damaged.

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First Boston, now this? What's going on? I don't really think that it's the same person who did it or anything, but what is going on?

SCNG FTW!!

 

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First Boston, now this? What's going on? I don't really think that it's the same person who did it or anything, but what is going on?

 

There are multiple differences between this explosion and Boston but im going to name the main one.

 

1. Boston was a terrorist attack (Foreign or Domestic) This was not.

 

What caused the explosion at the West Fertilizer Co. was not immediately known.

 

Quoted from the article.

 

UPDATE: The blast shook houses 50 miles away and measured as a 2.1-magnitude seismic event, according to the United States Geological Survey.

 

CNN ARTICLE:

 

(CNN) -- The full extent of the devastation will have to wait until the light of day Thursday. But residents of the small Texas town of West already know what to expect.

"There are a lot of people that got hurt," West Mayor Tommy Muska forewarned Wednesday night. "There are a lot of people that will not be here tomorrow."

A massive explosion at a fertilizer plant on the edge of the town killed at least two people, wounded more than 150, leveled dozens of homes and prompted authorities to evacuate half their community of 2,800.

The Wednesday night blast shook houses 50 miles away and measured as a 2.1-magnitude seismic event, according to the United States Geological Survey.

"Fire officials fear that the number of casualties could rise as high as 60 to 70 dead, said Dr. George Smith, the emergency management system director of the city.

"That's a really rough number, I'm getting that figure from firefighters, we don't know yet," he said. "We have two EMS personnel that are dead for sure, and there may be three firefighters that are dead."

Early Thursday morning, firefighters painstakingly combed through houses, many reduced to rubble.

"(It's) massive -- just like Iraq. Just like the Murrah (Federal) Building in Oklahoma City," said D.L. Wilson of the public safety department.

What caused the explosion at the West Fertilizer Co. was not immediately known. But its location -- next to an apartment complex, a nursing home and a middle school -- did not help matters.

The blast stripped the apartment complex, with 50 units, of its walls and windows. "It was just a skeleton standing up," Wilson said.

The nursing home, with 133 residents, was quickly evacuated.

Fireball in the sky

West is a community of about 2,800 people, about 75 miles south of Dallas and 120 miles north of Austin. The town's chamber of commerce touts it as "the Czech point of central Texas."

Czech immigrants arrived there in the 1880s and the community still maintains strong ties to their central European roots, with businesses named "Little Czech Bakery" and "The Czech Inn."

The blast took place at the plant about 8:50 p.m. ET.

It sent a massive fireball into the sky. Flames leaped over the roof of a structure and a plume of smoke rose high into the air.

Brad Smith lives 50 miles away and he felt his house shake from the explosion.

"We didn't know exactly what it was," he said. "The forecast said a line of thunderstorm was going to come though. My wife and I looked up and wondered, 'Did it get here six hours early?'"

Back in West, officials painted a grim picture.

"There are lots of houses that are leveled within a two-block radius," Smith said. "A lot of other homes are damaged as well outside that radius."

The number of injuries ran well over 100, authorities said.

Five hours after the blast, carloads of the wounded continued to stream into area hospitals.

While some of the injuries are minor, others were "quite serious," said Glenn Robinson, the chief executive officer of Hillcrest Hospital in Waco.

Many suffered from "blast injuries, orthopedic injuries (and) a lot of lacerations."

Risk remains

For the town, the danger may not be over.

Even though officials have turned off all the gas, they evacuated half the town because they were worried another tank at the facility might explode.

"What we are hearing is that there is one fertilizer tank that is still intact at the plant, and there are evacuations in place to make sure everyone gets away from the area safely in case of another explosion," said Ben Stratmann, a spokesman for Texas State Sen. Brian Birdwell.

If the winds turn, the other half of the town will have to be evacuated as well.

The big concern: anhydrous ammonia, a pungent gas with suffocating fumes that is used as a fertilizer.

When exposed to humans, it can cause severe burns if it combines with water in the body.

And exposure to high concentrations can lead to death.

The West Fertilizer Co. said it had 54,000 pounds of the chemical, the Dallas Morning News reported.

What is anhydrous ammonia

The scene

Early Thursday morning, state troopers in gas masks manned roadblocks, waving away cars coming off the highway.

The Federal Aviation Administration instituted a flight restriction over the town.

Authorities closed schools for the rest of the week, and urged everyone to stay away from school property.

So many firefighters and medics descended on the town to help its all-volunteer firefighting force that the public safety department issued a plea that it didn't need more assistance.

"The firefighters and EMS people are coming from hundreds of miles away to help us," Wilson said. "Right now, we are overflowing with help. "

Worst-case scenario

According to the Dallas Morning News, the plant informed the Environmental Protection Agency that it presented no risk of fire or explosion.

In a report it filed with the EPA, the plant said that even the worst-case scenario wouldn't be that dire: there would be a 10-minute release of ammonia gas that wouldn't kill or injure anyone, the newspaper reported.

But what happened Wednesday night was much worse.

Tommy Alford, who works in a convenience store about three miles from the plant, said several volunteer firefighters were at the store when they spotted smoke.

Alford said the firefighters headed toward the scene and then between five and 10 minutes later, he heard a massive explosion.

"It was massive; it was intense," Alford said.

'Not the end of the world'

Cheryl Marak, who sits on West's city council, said the impact of the blast knocked her to the ground.

"It demolished both the houses there, mine and my mom's and it killed my dog," she said.

Other residents had similar stories.

"It was like a bomb went off," said Barry Murry, who lives about a mile away from the plant. "There were emergency vehicles everywhere. It has been overwhelming."

As they waited for daybreak, they sought comfort in Mayor Muska's words.

"This is not the end of the world," he said. "This is a big ol' cut that we got across our hearts right now."

"But," he added, "we are strong. We will rebuild."

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Hope US will be fine :) RIP for those who passed away in Boston . its really sadden me why people can kill innocent people that they dont even know or saw them / FK the perpreator . He/She is a Coward . dare to plant explosion but no guts to admit it . for those who lost their friends/relative/family . My condolences to you .

 

 

I really hope that the perpretator will be arrested soon . even i am a singaporean and this does not  concern me .

Weili

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The A-Q comment isn't needed. Two disasters in one week, it's not as if US haven't got enough heartbreak to deal with already with the three fatalities and many more injuries from the Boston bombings.

Edited by waihonlam1994
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I dunno but there are terror attacks and stuff happening all over the world. Why is it so that only US ones get posted on this forum?

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Well a lot of us are US citizens who are expected to be safe and invinicble, to an extent, the people in those war ridden countries have almost no one to protect them. I mean this who place is about police n shizz.

Btw this post may or may not be completely incorrect I'm still in home room and I'm still asleep.

Edited by hlsavior
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I dunno but there are terror attacks and stuff happening all over the world. Why is it so that only US ones get posted on this forum?

 

Kinda agree. I think it's being too much covering in the media of my country, when just 3 died. We have terrorist attacks, massacres and even those bombs that fall in the wrong place almost everyday along the word, with tons of victims more and if they are shown on TV, they don't get nor 30 seconds. Though by other hand, this attack may be even relationed with the letters with venom that have been sent to Obama and other politicians, I mean, it may have a bigger scale.

 

Backing to topic, kinda creepy that this occurred at day of interval of the 20th anniversary of Waco siege, where more than 80 people died, between police officers and sectaries, near the site of the explosion.

 

Rip to the victims of this terrible accident and hope these toxic smoke clouds dissapear soon and not cause more victims.

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I doubt that this is remotely connected to the Boston bombings or terrorist activity,its more like an accidental fire or an arson attack.

 

Terrorists are more likely to attack in bigger cities (wont name the ones but you all know).

 

RIP to everyone who has died as a result of both attacks,and attacks all over the world.

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