Fertilizer plant explosion

[Okrafarmer]

Some of you who turn in early on the east coast may not have heard about this until morning. Very very sad. As is often the case for these large tragedies, they will not have an accurate death and injury total until much later. I hope all our FF friends are ok, if any are near the site. The small town of West, Texas, is just north of Waco.

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2013/04/17/fertilizer-plant-explosion-reported-north-of-waco/

[thecfarm]

My wife woke me up about 10:30 telling me about it. She did not know the details.

[SwampDonkey]

That was one huge explosion, magnitude 2.0 says USGS. 

Unbelievable, and obviously very devastating. Very sad.

[Okrafarmer]

So big it was heard and felt 100 miles away by some. I'm no expert, but I hadn't imagined even a nuclear bomb would be felt that far away. One account said that a woman and her son were walking in a field at least a mile away, maybe more, and the blast blew them up into the air. The son went so high up he cracked a couple ribs when he hit the ground. One video was taken by a man who had his daughter in the car with him. He was recording the fire from a "safe" distance (obviously a mile or more away by the footage) when the explosion occurred. He dropped the camera in the car which was still recording, and you could hear the daughter screaming and saying that she couldn't hear anything.

[redbeard]

Prayers for the people effected and the people helping are hero's!

[Okrafarmer]

I'm not sure if there are any FF people in that part of Texas because I'm not sure if there are any trees there, but does anyone on here live near there?

[Warbird]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROrpKx3aIjA

The little girl crying for her daddy to 'get out of here' after the explosion just gets me.

[Okrafarmer]

Yep, that's the video I was referring to.

[Texas Ranger]

Wells/Waco is on the western edge of the Post Oak Belt of Texas.  Some small wood operations out that way, mesquite and cedar, mostly.  Some low grade oak, etc.

[Roxie]

According to the BBC news, twelve dead and more than 200 injured.  Tragic.  The news also said that Willie Nelson will be having a benefit concert. 

[clww]

It's probably accurate if the BBC reported it. I feel sorry for those killed and injured, as well as those that had damage done to their homes and property. That sounds just like Willie to help others through his music.

[Busy Beaver Lumber]

Unfortunately, Texas is no stranger to ammonium nitrate explosions:

The Texas City disaster of April 16, 1947 is the deadliest industrial accident in U.S. history, and one of the largest non-nuclear explosions. Originating with a mid-morning fire on board the French-registered vessel SS Grandcamp (docked in the Port of Texas City), its cargo of approximately 2,300 tons (2,086,100 kg) of ammonium nitrate detonated, with the initial blast and subsequent chain-reaction of further fires and explosions in other ships and nearby oil-storage facilities killing at least 581 people, including all but one member of the Texas City fire department.

Why do they even think about putting the facilities that deal with the ammonium nitrate anywhere close to residential areas. Look at the map and you will see the factory that blew up was less than 1000 feet from a nursing home and Middle school and about 1500 feet from a hospital and high school, plus the residential neighborhood. Is that the sane place to locate a ticking time bomb like that?


Come on! A state as large as Texas and you can't locate a fertilizer factory out in the middle of nowhere where innocent people would not have their homes and families being blown up?

The town of Fort Wayne Indiana did not want to let me operate a 10 HP LT-10 sawmill 1000 feet away from the Municipal airport where F15 and F16 fighter jets were also stationed because they were concerned about the noise the sawmill would make, but Waco Texas allows highly explosive chemicals to be processed the same distance away from major gathering points and residents.

[clww]

That ship had it's 3-ton anchor blown 2 miles inland from the force of the explosion.

[Roxie]

They found two more bodies today, so the toll so far is fourteen dead. 

[clww]

A sad week in the south and the north. :(

[Okrafarmer]

The mid-april crucible strikes again. Many of the most tragic or poignant events for the United States occur in mid-April. I believe today is the anniversary of Columbine.