Explosion in West, Texas

Read on Twitter (pause to roll eyes) that the OKC bombing involved 4,800 pounds of anhydrous ammonia.

This plant had 54,000 pounds of the stuff.

 

If they knew how much ammonia was at that plant, they never would've gotten that close. All that stuff has to be on file by law.

 

According to the DMN story the amount was on file.

Makes you wonder if the fire department knew what the proper procedure was for dealing with it.

 

With a fire that big, how could a few hoses do any damage to it? Sad all around.

 

The fumes from that have to be toxic, right?

 

Matt Howerton ‏@MattHowerton 7m
According to TCEQ website, West Fertilizer was fined $2300 in 2006 for failing to implement a risk management plan. #kwtx #westexplosion

 

DPS spokesman said that end of town has been evacuated. There's also a "north'er" blowing in tonight so they may need to evacuate the south end of town too.

He also said 50-75 houses caught fire and a 50-unit apartment complex was destroyed in the blast.

 

The wind right now is out of the south, away from town. That will change in a few hours when the front arrives.

 

Jesus.

 

Don't normally post links to fan boards, but here's one from a Baylor messageboard about the explosion. Appears several of the posters knew people in the area. West is about 20 minutes north of Waco.

http://www.baylorfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=255833&page=1

Pics of the apartment complex I mentioned earlier:

http://imgur.com/a/nXxzg#qp1vDlp

 

It's kind of crazy to think back to being a kid growing up on a farm. My dad and grandpa wouldn't even really hesitate to send 14-year-old Jake_Taylor out driving around with a 1,000-gallon anhydrous ammonia tank hooked to the back of the pickup. I'd pick up an empty tank in the field, drive it place where the local Co-Op kept and filled all the tanks (like the picture below), drop off the empty and hook on to a full tank to deliver to the field. Sometimes I'd do that 15 times in a day and run into friends from school all doing the same thing, a bunch of dumb teenagers all trusted not to blow the whole damn town to kingdom come. My parents wouldn't have trusted me to change the propane tank on the patio grill, but this kind of thing was just a part of rural life.

 

A poster on another message board said he felt it in Forney. That's 90 miles away.