Fertilizer Plant Explosion in West, Texas - 12 Deaths, 60 missing.

[Jeffhog]

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(CNN) -- An explosion ripped through a fertilizer plant Wednesday night in the area of West, Texas, sending a massive fireball into the sky and causing dozens of injuries, officials said.

A number of nearby residents were being evacuated because of the possibility of another explosion, officials said.

A hospital in nearby Waco, Texas, has been told to anticipate 100 injured people coming in from the fertilizer plant area, an official at the medical facility said.

Glenn Robinson, CEO of Hillcrest Hospital, said a field triage station was being set up on a football field near the plant some 18 miles north of Waco after the Wednesday night explosion.

"We have had a steady flow of patients coming in by ambulance as well as by private vehicles," Robinson told CNN's Anderson Cooper.

More than 60 patients were received as of 10 p.m. (11 p.m. ET), Robinson said, suffering from "blast injuries, orthopedic injuries (and) a lot of lacerations. While some of the injuries are minor, others are "quite serious," he said.

Hazardous material teams were being rushed to the scene, an emergency management official 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.

As many scrambled to assist the injured, another danger seemed to emerge Wednesday night.

"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.

Photos of the explosion -- which reportedly happened around 7:50 p.m. (8:50 p.m. ET) -- showed a huge blaze and flames leaping over the roof of a structure and a plume of smoke rising high into the air.

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.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry said he is aware of the explosion, a spokesman said, and was working to get resources into the area.

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 a 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."

West, Texas, is a community of about 2,800 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

CNN's Chandler Friedman, Carma Hassan, Ed Payne, Greg Botelho contributed to this report.

 
First Boston... now this?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edit:

 

 

 

 

As the authorities continued to sift through the debris left by the devastating explosion at a fertilizer plant here, scores of people were still missing, and the number of dead rose to 12, most of them firefighters and other emergency responders who were the first to arrive at the scene.

 

The remains of an apartment complex in West, a small town in the center of Texas devastated by an explosion on Wednesday.

“We’re still in search-and-rescue mode,” Sgt. Jason Reyes of the Texas Department of Public Safety said at a news conference on Friday morning.

Mr. Reyes did not discuss the number of missing, but later in the day, Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, said that 60 people were missing.

“We still don’t know the extent of their loss,” Mr. Cornyn said.

About 200 people were injured by the blast, which tore apart an entire section of West, a small town of roughly 2,800 residents 80 miles south of Dallas. By daybreak on Friday, rescue personnel had combed through 150 buildings, though there were 25 more to go. Fifty homes were completely destroyed, as well as three fire trucks and one ambulance, Sergeant Reyes said.

 

Linky.

Edited April 19, 2013 by Tornado
Post title edited with new information.

[Indigo Rush]

This is horrible. There are already reports of at least 70 people dead.

[BakingBluePotatoe]

Seriously though, not a good week for the US... D8

 

Connected, or just a coincidence?

[Jeffhog]

No idea.

 

And to go with Indigo's post, yes, up to 70 deaths have been confirmed.

[Tornado]

Connected, or just a coincidence?

 

No reason to think it is connected. Fertilizer is extremely dangerous stuff just by itself. It's literally an explosive agent, which is why it is such a common thing used in homemade bombs (the Oklahoma City bombing was primarily fertilizer; something like 2 tons of it). This was almost certainly an accident.

[SIXTH-RATE SOMA]

Like I said in the statuses, I really wish I could say anything that would help. My prayers are with them, at least.

[Indigo Rush]

Footage:

 

 

 

Sweet jumping' ... can't even think of a funny analogy. This is just horrible.

[D-Metal X]

That fertilizer plant reported having 54,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia. The OKC bomb had 4800 pounds of it.

Also, using the water that firefighters use to put out fires can warm the ammonia when mixed with it, resulting in the liquid form of it becoming a vapor, apparently.

Horrible.

Edited April 18, 2013 by D-Metal X

[Biafra Republic]

In actuality, the disaster in West and the Oklahoma City bombing are caused by two very different types of ammonia-based explosions. While OKC was caused by a type of ammonium nitrate/fuel oil bomb, this appears to be a simple incident with the anhydrous ammonia mixing with an unknown agent, several examples of which could cause this explosion.

Still, to give you an example or two:

5400 pounds of ammonium nitrate mixed with nitromethane racing fuel = Oklahoma City Bombing device.

2600 metric tons of ammonium nitrate sitting in a ship near one of the largest refinery complexes in the US = Texas City Disaster of 1947.

Latest from the disaster shows 2 confirmed deaths, over 100 injuries, and possibly more to come as several of the injured are in emergency surgery, according to CNN and Fox News.

[KHCast]

This week keeps getting worse....so many explosions and deaths this week. It will definitely be remembered. My prayers go out to Texas. Times like these call for us to be there for eachother.

[LATER BUDDY]

Holy fuck that explosion was crazy. Starting that video I was like "oh dang that's a pretty big fire. i've seen fire that size before, can't believe it killed so ma-OH SHIT FUCK"

 

I honestly wonder how many died instantly from being nearby, that's crazy, D:.

[Stacy]

Yes I also don't think this is related to the Boston attacks. But Jesus look at that explosion looks like a mushroom cloud!

 

Ammonia/fertilizer is dangerously unstable stuff. 

 

People are already throwing it on the Conspiracy pile because it is near Waco, Texas.

 

The news is that up to 70 people might of died from the explosion. 

[Mogtaki]

Seriously though, not a good week for the US... D8

 

Connected, or just a coincidence?

 

Don't be 'that American', please? D: I mean, us foreigners...all we start to see in America is paranoia.

 

Fertiliser has always been the most volatile stuff to work with that people simply pass off as 'not a big deal'. Somebody screwed up in this instance with many dead and disfigured now as a result, the certain somebody would probably be dead. Even breathing in the fumes of what that place would give off can kill you fairly quickly. It's like setting fire to a gas station, it's that volatile.

 

Here in our news, there's still no definite number of dead, but why isn't this getting as much press as the marathon? It's being described as a warzone.

[Lady Soniko]

I'm surprised any one made it out alive from that blast radius, holy fuck.

[Clouder]

Source

 

 

 

 

First Boston... now this?

>Fertilizer Plant

What in the world.

[Gabz Girl]

OMG...this has been a horrible week for the US. The footage of the explosion was awful! I don't even know if they survived...but then how did they find the film footage intact? Maybe a few of them did? I hope we find out soon. .__.

[Clouder]

Footage:

 

 

 

Sweet jumping' ... can't even think of a funny analogy. This is just horrible.

Now that almost made me drop this laptop in suprise.

[KrazyBean]

Wow, that is one HUGE explosion.

[Chaos Warp]

Holy shit, that's a massive explosion. My heart goes out to the people affected by this. 

[KittyNakajima]

Went to bed when this was breaking. I would have stayed up to see details, but I already had folks on my FB feed freaking out, thinking this was another attack. I don't want to place that in doubt, but I have to agree with folks here saying that fertilizer on its own is very volatile in nature. It could have easily been an honest, but terrible freak accident.

 

I haven't tried to update myself on it much yet given all the shit that's happened this week. The bombing of the Boston Marathon, the ricin-laced letters sent to the President/Capitol, and the Senate passing on the extended background check for gun ownership. Pretty dismal week for the U.S., and we have yet another tragedy on our hands.

 

I know I will in a little while whether I want to or not (i.e. interruption of regular programming via breaking news reports), but for now, I'm just going to take it in stride.

[Chris]

Considering the chemicals involved in the production of fertilizer, I'm not at all surprised by the size of the blast shown in that video. Some of the chemicals - as well as the potential solutions they may have been using - are very volatile and highly combustible, and you would need a decent amount of it in storage to be able to do an operation of that size.

It's a tragedy to say the least, though. My heart goes out to those involved.

[Ming Ming Hatsune]

More footage:

 

Some of you may find this a little disturbing, just a quick warning...

 

 

I hope the girl hasn't gone deaf after that explosion...

[DSP001]

Oh shit, that was terrifying to watch, I can't even begin to imagine what it was like for them. HOLY STICKS, I'm actually distressed right now, this has been a horrible week for the US.

[Tani Coyote]

I hope the girl hasn't gone deaf after that explosion...

 

If you hear a loud sound (like a gunshot) in a crowded space, it can give you temporary deafness as I recall. So, we can hope she's just experiencing something akin to that. But, given that the Dad seems to be perfectly fine, it makes it somewhat worrying.

 

Overall, this is a horrible, horrible disaster. I'm honestly praying this was an accident and not the result of someone's negligence, though the pessimist in me is finding that hard to believe.

 

70 dead though... goodness gracious. Two massive losses of life in only 4 days. I'm just grateful these aren't connected.

 

My condolences to all the victims.

Edited April 18, 2013 by Ogilvie Maurice

[Ming Ming Hatsune]

http://www.today.com/news/witness-texas-plant-blast-lifted-my-truck-ground-1C9503042

 

Thank God, her hearing is alright. However her inner ear is still sore it seems. But yeah, NBC found the two who was in that video.