West Texas Fertilizer Plant Explosion

[JasonPratt]

Dang, the USA just can't catch a break this week. (Well, stopping the Ricin dot letter to the President counts as a break I guess.)

Fertilizer Plant == Fuel-Air Explosive == Small Nuke. Registered as a 2.5 Richter scale earthquake.


In somewhat related news, a couple of local high school kids and their college-age buddy decided it would be fun to order 10 lbs of plastic explosives (somehow) and detonate an old truck in the swamps several miles east of my house (in West Tennessee) a couple of weeks ago. Apparently the goal was to put it on YouTube; what actually happened was that they shifted the nearest house off its foundation. It not only shook my house but the ground under my house, too! The police seem to have protected those clowns from a Homeland Security investigation and prosecution; but with the recent explosive/attack weirdness going on, those kids might find themselves back under scrutiny.  >:(


Anyway, new thread for West Texas tragedy. Post links, news, discussion below.

[TheCommandTent]

Police say between five to fifteen people were killed and more than 160 were injured in a massive explosion at a fertilizer plant near Waco, Texas, late Wednesday.

The explosion at West Fertilizer in downtown West — a community of roughly 2,600 residents about 20 miles north of Waco — happened around 8 p.m. and could be heard as far away as Waxahachie, a town located 45 miles north. It sent flames spiraling high into the evening sky and rained burning embers, shrapnel and debris down on frightened residents.

  A member of the city council, Al Vanek, said a four-block area around the explosion was "totally decimated." Other witnesses compared the scene to that of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and authorities said the plant made materials similar to that used to fuel the bomb that tore apart that city's Murrah Federal Building.

The USGS reported that the blast registered a 2.1 on the Richter scale.

"They are still getting injured folks out and they are evacuating people from their homes," Waco Police Department Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said early Thursday. "At this point, we don't know a number that have been killed ... I think we will see those fatalities increase as we get toward the morning."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/18/numerous-injuries-reported-in-large-explosion-at-texas-fertilizer-plant/#ixzz2QolufdES

It sounds like they are expecting the casualty count to rise.  This is very sad news.  It also sounds like alot of residential areas were damaged/destroy including part of a nursing home.   :(


Here is a video of the explosion

[JasonPratt]

Yep, I was just about to post that.

Note: the fire at the beginning? That isn't after the explosion...

[LongBlade]

Sheesh. The mayor said on an interview that property has been leveled for five miles. Maybe he means damaged?

The plant had a few ostensibly minor safety issues. Methinks that someone might revisit those reports.

[JasonPratt]

I keep hearing the word "leveled", too. As in "50 houses leveled", one an apartment building. Or "leveled in a four block radius".

More realistic sounding is "badly damaging or destroying" 75 houses, the 50-unit apartment complex, a middle school and a nursing home.

Obviously it didn't "level" that truck, or the boy wouldn't have been pleading to get away, but it sure knocked that truck around.


Here's a slightly expanded version (compared to others I've seen) of the Associated Press article which has been making the rounds:

http://dailycaller.com/2013/04/18/massive-explosion-rocks-texas-town/

[Martok]

Jesus.  My prayers for the wounded, homeless, and the families of those who perished in the blast. 

Here is a video of the explosion

Holy crap.  That's terrifyingly huge. 

[JasonPratt]

Literally an explosion the size of the factory. (Rushing at that truck...)

[Arctic Blast]

What the Hell is wrong with that guy? Seriously? "Oh, a giant plant full of ammonia is on fire, let's grab the kids and head over to film it!"

Idiot aside, what a horrific event. There really isn't anything else to say.

[LongBlade]

What the Hell is wrong with that guy? Seriously? "Oh, a giant plant full of ammonia is on fire, let's grab the kids and head over to film it!"

Idiot aside, what a horrific event. There really isn't anything else to say.

Agreed.

In his defense, it's a small town and they probably don't have too much excitement.

That said, he's lucky he's not a candidate for the Darwin Award.

Somehow I think he may have learned his lesson.

[Longdan]

Things are bigger in Texas.

[Staggerwing]

That kid is smarter than his dad and is probably familiar with the term 'secondary explosions'- 'Please lets get out of here!' is a much better response to that cataclysm than sitting there repeating 'Holy Shit?!?'.

[Con]

Do people think it's just a bad coincidence that this falls on the April 18/19th Branch Davidians siege or is this something more sinister?

Con

[LongBlade]

Do people think it's just a bad coincidence that this falls on the April 18/19th Branch Davidians siege or is this something more sinister?

Con

Nah.

That plant reportedly had a history of some safety issues. I'd give the odds a much greater chance that the plant either cut corners and/or bribed an inspector than it being some kind of nut job type of thing.

[Centurion40]

Still, that should not be ignored... especially if there are indications of arson.

[LongBlade]

I agree, but in the end I think this will come down to plain old human bumbling or avarice.