Posted on 04/17/2013 6:51:57 PM PDT by kristinn
A large explosion rocked the town of West, Texas, 19 miles north of Waco, on Wednesday evening.
A source tells News 8 that a large swath of the small town with a population of 2,800 has been leveled.
According to initial reports, the blast was at the West Fertilizer plant at 1471 Jerry Mashek Drive, about a half-mile east of Interstate 35.
(Excerpt) Read more at wfaa.com ...
Listening to reports not in the area....the town is named “West”.....but, not in west Texas! HLN reported earlier an explosion in a town in west Texas...confusing..
Earlier in the thread, there was a satellite photo of the plant posted. The apartment building was at the left edge of that photo.
Did you see the photo of the apartment building damage upthread? My mind is blown by that alone.
Just hearing that burn patients are now being airlifted to Dallas.
And of course, the reason he moved here is due to a corporate transfer. There are no jobs up in Yankeeland but Texas has them in abundance. He constantly whines about how he misses the four seasons and hates our summer heat. Yet, he's been here for 15 long years and shows no indication of going back to his idea of paradise. To him, Texas is just an ATM. Cha-ching.
Do us all a favor and keep making life miserable for him :-)
Of that you may be assured. Actually, when I do talk with him and confine the conversation only to technical matters in the realm of IT, he's quite interesting, rational and knows his stuff. There's one ray of hope in that his daughter is a cheerleader and, unlike dad, she's showing signs of becoming a Texan. She convinced him to put up a Texas flag by the entry way to the house.
TURN YOUR VOLUME DOWN IF YOU HAVE PEOPLE SLEEPING IN YOUR HOUSE.
VIDEO OF THE EXPLOSION...
http://youtu.be/ROrpKx3aIjA
Reports that I-35 is closed. NBC crew said that it was already choked with traffic due to ongoing construction.
I have no knowledge of chemistry, but I heard the blast could have been caused in part by the water used to put out the chemical fire?
Sounds like she's high school age. That would mean that Texas is the only home she knows. Yeah, she's one of us.
Take THAT, ya freekin lib!
The Crucifixion and Resurrection took place in April? And Jesus was born on December 25, 0000 I suppose? Oh brother....
Sorry, initial information was sketchy
It was felt farther away than that. Some say they heard it in Arlington 80 miles away.
Hey, the source is NBC so their facts must be taken with a grade of slaw.
Understandable as they needed to limit traffic and keep others away from possible harm. These Texans are a tough lot.
I heard their firefighter force is 6 or 7. Would make sense with the size of this town. Can anyone here confirm this?
Wow. That is absolutely terrifying.
You don’t need water and AN (Ammonium Nitrate) does not need oxygen because it contains more than enough oxygen to burn on it’s own. All you need is sufficient heat and some compression to allow the material to transition from deflagration (burning) to detonation (explosion) and once a small part detonates all the material in proximity will detonate.
Here is a wiki page on fertilizer disasters - quite a few of them and again makes one wonder why they would build dwellings and a school around such a facility.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonium_nitrate_disasters
This one (in Texas in 1947) was the ship that exploded and killed 581 people.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fertilizer-explosion-kills-581-in-texas
It’s determined by individual cities; not state-wide.
Thank you for the explanation.....see, I told you I don’t know anything about chemistry!
There are still places in this country where people just do the right thing and use good sense and just ignore rules when the time comes.
I think they closed I-35 to keep NBC out....LOL
......”why do so many awful (or monumental) things happen in mid-April?”.....
End of winter/snow....people come out of hypernation...companies and industry step up there pace.....and weather patterns change. A host of things esculate in Spring. Crime escualtes as well.
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