Posted on 04/17/2013 8:55:27 PM PDT by mnehring
Explosions rocked a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, Wednesday evening as firefighters were battling a fire, causing multiple injuries, authorities said.
Dani Moore, dispatcher with the Texas Department of Pubic Safety, said she did not know how many were injured or the extent of their injuries.
"The fertilizer plant was on fire. Firefighters were on the scene. There was an explosion ... followed by a second explosion,'' she said.
She said there were multiple damages to structures and vehicles. She said she had no information on the cause of the blasts or fire.
WFAA.com reported at least 10 structures were on fire, including a school which is next door to the plant. An emergency triage center was set up at a high school football field.
The TV station said on its website that a shock wave was felt in parts of North Texas.
The Waco Tribune reported injuries to several people including firefighters.
The fertilizer plant is about 20 miles north of Waco and just off Interstate 35.
KWTX.com reported one of the nearby buildings damaged was a nursing home, and state troopers transported some of the injured to hospitals in patrol cars.
It also said the explosion knocked out electrical power to part of the community.
Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center in Waco, was receiving some of the injured. Answering the phone at the hospital, Karen Jackson said she could provide no information on the number of injured or the extent.
Video Here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ROrpKx3aIjA
Texas City blast began with a fire aboard the SS Grankamp loaded with fertilizer(ammonium nitrate) bound for post-war Europe.
This reminds me of the Texas City chemical explosions of 1947.
I remember driving thou this town on my way to Fort Worth and Back.
Go easy man, he was damn near 1/4 mile from it best guess. In a million years I would have never guessed that was an unsafe distance and I don’t consider myself the typical village idiot. I still can’t believe how powerful that was
He shouldn’t have had his daughter out there but I doubt he or anyone never imagine it to blow up — with that kind of force and from a distant that from appearances looked far back enough
They are now saying it will be much higher than the 60-70 numbers. A nursing home was also destroyed before they could evacuate.
shouldn’t have had his daughter... probably taking her home from school or something.... I doubt he planned to see a major fire on the way
Mnehring, thank you for posting the information and link to the video. Here’s a live audio/video live news link and they’re updating.
This is horrific. More prayers for all in the area.
Last story said the highway is a half mile but this might not have been I-35 I suppose
Dust explosions are extremely bad.
I don’t think he could have known what kind of force that explosion could have had.
Don’t make excuses for him. When you see a large fire at a chemical plant, you run and run and keep on running.
#west if you are at football field move to community center, football field triage is contaminated
Yep, I hear it can even happen with flour and sugar plants. Crazy to think about.
People 50 miles away are reporting they heard it and it shook their home.
Yep, it is usually the top off for gas point for us when going to San Antonio.
Nothing like this death toll reported yet on the MSM.
After reading the posts, I’m afraid to watch the video. What happened??
She's saying "let's get out of here" over and over, and then "I can't hear anything." She must have been terrified. I hope she gets her hearing back. That shock wave was going much faster than the speed of sound. It hit at the same time as the explosion could be seen.
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