So do you then believe that the explosion was caused by something else besides the fire-chemical mix?
The details are still sketch as to what chemicals they had on site and what was on fire.
The site supposedly only had anhydrous ammonia. It is very hard to make that blow up. Two options are:
BLEVE - Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion
Vapor Cloud Explosion - A large vapor release of ammonia igniting due to the fire.
However, there don’t seem to be many reports of Ammonia exposures.
This source, below, says that there was a ammonium nitrite rail car that was the source of the explosion.
“Authorities suspect the blast was set off by a rail car holding a large quantity of ammonia nitrate that somehow caught fire or blew up. The Obama offical told The Post that investigators are now trying to determine whether the ammonia nitrate-carrying train was on the fertilizer plant’s property or on an adjacent site.
That question is critical, the official said, because the plant does not list ammonium nitrate as a chemical that it handles under the plant’s emergency plan on file with federal regulators — as it should be if the plant does handle such a chemical.
“There’s no ammonium nitrate reporting on their emergency plan,” the official said, noting that that plan was most recently reviewed by regulators in 2011.”
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/waco_plant_explosion_kills_criminal_HKroeaVUFAbVElwYRoRKHM
Not sure what chemicals they had on site or what they were making.
Something organic was burning to make a heck of a fire.