Free Republic

Emergency crews were responding Wednesday night after a report of a major explosion at a burning fertilizer plant in West north of Waco. West firefighters were dispatched to the plant earlier in the evening after an earlier fire rekindled. The explosion was reported at around 7:50 p.m. in a frantic radio call from the scene of the fire at West Fertilizer at 1471 Jerry Mashek Dr. just off Interstate 35. Numerous injuries were reported and multiple ambulances were requested. Several buildings were reported destroyed and a nearby nursing home was damaged.

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.