Huge Fertilizer Silo Explosion in Texas

[Sea Skimmer]

About an hour ago. One dead, 130+ injured so far, dozen plus buildings leveled or on fire, burning toxic gas tanks have forced fire rescue to abandon the area for the moment. No good articles but I'll post one anyway.

Dozens reported injured in explosion at Texas fertilizer plant

Mariah Garcia/photo via NBCDFW.com
Smoke rises from the scene of a fertilizer plant explosion near Waco, Texas, on Wednesday, April 17..

By M. Alex Johnson, staff writer, NBC News
Dozens of people were injured and numerous buildings were damaged in a large explosion at a fertilizer plant near Waco, Texas, according to local authorities and media reports.
About 60 people were being treated at Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center in Waco, KWTX-TV of Waco reported. Others were being treated at a local community center.
The Waco Department of Public Safety told NBC 5 of Dallas that many of the injuries were severe in the blast, which occurred about 7:50 p.m. (8:50 p.m. ET) at the West Fertilizer plant in the small town of West, about 20 miles north of Waco. The station said the explosion occurred while firefighters were at the plant on an earlier fire call.

A nursing home was damaged and West Middle School was on fire, KWTX reported. NBC 5 quoted witnesses as saying a nearby funeral home and an apartment complex also sustained serious damage. Interstate 35 was closed in McLennan County.
NBC station KCEN of Waco reported that many of the injured were being treated at a nearby community center. As many as a dozen helicopters were seen landing at a staging area at West High School.
Hillcrest issued a call to all staffers to report for work to handle multiple injuries, KWTX reported. Troopers were transporting some victims to hospitals in patrol cars, the Department of Public Safety told the station.


A triage area had been established near the scene, but it was moved a short distance away for fear that smoke from the fire might be toxic.
The local power utility, Oncor Electric, reported that more than 2,000 customers were without power in the area. It said it would take several hours to restore electricity.
The blast was felt as far as 15 miles away.
"My husband and l were cleaning up the kitchen after supper, and heard what we thought was someone running into our house," Tonya Harris of Groesbeck, several miles southeast of West, told KWTX by email.
"It shook our windows and doors. We immediately ran outside looking for the worst," she said.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry said in a statement that state resources were being made available to local authorities.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of West, and the first responders on the scene," he said.
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04 ... plant?lite

They have a live feed from a news helicopter that just arrived at above link as well.

[That NOS Guy]

One is forced to wonder if this was purely accidental. If not, are we all Waco now?

[Sea Skimmer]

We've had way worse fertilizer silo and ship explosions before that were accidental. See Texas City 1947, worst industrial accident in US history. A photo exists of a building at the plant on fire first, seems unlikely that an intentional fire would be started in the building and not in the fertilizer silo.

It appears from people monitoring police scanners and blogging, some level of evacuation took place before the plant blew up, but it may only have involved a few minutes warning.



http://i.imgur.com/qp1vDlp.jpg
Half collapsed apartment building in link above, too big to inline

Reports are from news copters that police helicopter searchlights showed a 4 block radius was destroyed.

[That NOS Guy]

Well, there's also 1917 Halifax Explosion as another case in point but purely off the cuff so close to the Waco anniversary and with Boston 48 hours ago it's super easy (and likely super lazy) to jump to conclusions. not being familiar with the layout of Fertilizer plants, how close would a building and the part that goes boom be?

[Sea Skimmer]

Halifax involved military explosives, I was discounting such things as far as accident go. The Bombay Explosion, Port Chicago, West Lock ect.. also killed large numbers of people, but many of these blasts also involved gross negligence even by the standards of the time. The Germans had a completely huge explosion like this too, in 1921 at Oppau involving over four thousand tons of ammonia nitrate in one giant silo. Over 500 people died... and it was caused by the use of dynamite to breakup the fertilizer in the silo.

Thing is, most ammonia nitrate fertilizer mixtures are blended down enough that they are not readily explosive, they have to at least cook a while before they blow so you can flee the area. The pure stuff before its mixed is really dangerous. Unknown what was involved here.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Updated link

WACO (April 17, 2013)--West EMS Director Dr. George Smith says as many as 60 or 70 people died and at least 100 were injured Wednesday night in a fertilizer plant explosion in West.

A rescuer earlier said he knew of five deaths.

West Mayor Tommy Muska said at a news conference however, that he doesn't yet know how many people were hurt or killed in the blast explosion.

He said there was a fire at the West Fertilizer plant before the explosion.

To check on injured residents admitted to Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center call (254) 202-1100

For family inquiries about patients at Scott & White call (888) 394-4947



Family inquiries about patients at Providence Health Center (254) 761-7200

The Extraco Events Center will be setting up to take donations starting tomorrow at 9:00 am. For information call 254-776-1660

Carter Blood Care Center will accept donations beginning at 9 a.m. Thursday in Waco



American Red Cross crews from across Texas were sent to the site of an explosion at a fertilizer plant near Waco where multiple injuries have been reported. Red Cross spokeswoman Anita Foster said her group is working with emergency management officials in the town of West to find a safe shelter for residents displaced from their homes.

The Aquilla ISD opened facilities for those seeking refuge. Please report to the gym entrance.

Blair's Cove Apartments in Waco offering housing to any West residents affected by the explosion at 2425 S. 21st St. (254) 447-0810

Latham Springs Baptist Camp is open to displaced residents at 134 Private Road 223 in Aquilla

The Abbott gym is open to displaced residents

Valley mills Nursing Home has rooms available for nursing home residents if placement is needed for any of the West nursing home residents. Call 254-932-6288.

First Baptist Church of Gholson is open for anyone who needs a place to stay

Gholson ISD open for those seeking shelter

Brazos Meadows Baptist Church at 625 S. Hewitt Dr., adjacent to Castleman Creek Elementary will be open for anyone who needs a place to stay

American Legion Post 121 in Elm Mott is open for displaced residents

Sykora Family Ford in West has opened for residents who need a safe place to rest

Town Hall Estates in Hillsboro was taking in displaced residents

The Home Depot store in Bellmead will be open all night for those who need plywood, generators, etc.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry said state resources have been mobilized to help local authorities after the explosion. The governor released a statement late Wednesday night, saying state officials are "monitoring developments and gathering information as details continue to emerge about this incident."





Meanwhile, emergency crews were pulling back late Wednesday night because of concerns about the possibility of a second explosion.

Emergency crews from throughout Central Texas responded just before 8 p.m. Wednesday after the first explosion at the plant in the small town north of Waco.

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.

The fire started in an anhydrous ammonia tank and spread to the building, authorities said.

The resulting explosion spread the fire to the Middle School and to a nearby nursing home.

The blast was felt throughout the city and as far away as Hillsboro, Whitney and Blum.

Most of the injuries resulted from debris being thrown from the blast, glass, doors and other shrapnel, authorities said.

Everyone within one mile of the fire was ordered to evacuate.

Numerous injuries were reported and multiple ambulances were requested.

About 60 people had been taken to Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center by shortly before 10 p.m.

By 10:45 p.m. 61 injured victims had been admitted to Hillcrest, 44 of whom were in serious condition.

Scott & White said it has received three patients, two at Scott & White Memorial Hospital, and one at McLane Children’s Hospital.

“The hospital remains open and operating while the Emergency Department staff make preparations to evaluate and treat arriving victims. As the Level 1 trauma center for the region, Scott & White Hospital – Temple is communicating and coordinating with emergency responders out of Waco to provide care for victims,” a spokesman said.

Providence Health Center in Waco had received 22 patients by 11 p.m. Wednesday.

There were reports at around 9:45 p.m. that a second fertilizer tank was on fire, but authorities said that was the only fire still burning in the town.

Because of the threat of another explosion, emergency crews were being moved from the football field to another staging area.

An approaching storm was expected to produce gusty winds overnight that should dissipate any fumes, but that will fan the flames of any fires still burning.

Several buildings were reported destroyed in the blast and a nearby nursing home was damaged.

There were reports earlier that people were trapped in the nursing home and in an apartment building.

Scanner traffic indicated that some residents of both the nursing home and apartment building were severely injured.

Children were among the injured victims, according to reports from the scene.

Two children were reported to be trapped on the second floor of the damaged apartment complex.

McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara said the area looked like a war zone.

He could not say whether there were any deaths and did not know how many people were injured.

Department of Public Safety troopers transported some victims to hospitals in patrol cars, said Gayle Scarbrough at the DPS Communications Center in Waco.

A triage area was first established at the intersection of Haven and North Reagan Streets, but it was later moved to Marable Street and Meadow Drive because of the potentially toxic smoke from the fire.

As many as a dozen helicopters were sent to the area and were landing at West High School stadium and at least two-dozen ambulances were waiting there to transport victims to hospitals.

The staging area was later moved because of the threat of an explosion from a second burning tank.

A number of buildings were reported to be burning, some in residential areas and evacuations were underway.

Authorities were going door-to-door checking residences in the area.

West Middle School was one of the buildings reported to be on fire.

Injured victims were being taken to area hospitals.

An officer was dispatched to provide crowd control at Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center in Waco, which issued a call to all staffers to report.

The explosion knocked out power to a large area of the community.

Oncor’s online outage site showed more than a thousand customers without power.

Oncor Outage Website
Interstate 35 remained open, but a number of emergency vehicles were on the highway headed to West and from West to hospitals.

The Texas Department of Transportation advised motorists to avoid the area.

“I-35 is likely to become clogged as the emergency vehicles come and go, and as the inevitable rubbernecking begins in passing traffic,” spokeswoman Jodi Whatley said.

“Please try to use alternate routes and leave I-35 as open as possible as the ambulances try to get the injured to hospitals and then come back to help more victims. Because of the force of the explosion, many businesses, homes, and possibly a nursing home and school are destroyed or damaged. Power and phone service is out in much of the town,” she said.

Fire crews from virtually every community in the area headed to the scene.

Waco firefighters and the department’s hazmat team were among the first to respond.

The Killeen Fire Department was sending its hazmat team and 10 firefighters to assist.

A woman who was passing through West on Interstate 35 at the time of the explosion said she and her boyfriend saw a fireball 100-feet wide shoot into the air.

A man who lives 15 miles northwest of Hillsboro felt the concussion from the explosion.

Army Sgt. Rocky J. Havens said in an e-mail he felt the shock in Italy, north of Hillsboro.

Tonya Harris of Groesbeck said in an e-mail she heard the explosion.

“My husband and l were cleaning up the kitchen after supper, and heard what we thought was someone running into our house. It shook our windows and doors. We immediately ran outside looking for the worst,” she said.

Crystal Dahlman of Blum said in an e-mail, “the explosion shook and rumbled my house worse than thunder.”

Brad Smith of Waxahachie said he and his wife heard what sounded like a thunderclap.

Lydia Zimmerman of Bynum was working in the garden with her husband and daughter at the time of the explosion.

“It sounded like three bombs going off very close to us,” she said.

Gulf war veteran Paul L. Manigrasso felt the blast in Waxahachie.

“Based on my naval experience...we knew immediately what it was, but cannot believe it occurred 40 miles away,” he said.

Chris Moore was at a Wednesday night prayer service in Navarro Mills about 35 miles from West.

He said the blast rocked the church.

“We are praying for our neighbors in West right now,” he said.

Waco lawyer Walter Skip Reaves lives about 3/4 mile from the fertilizer plant.

He said the blast sounded like a bomb.

All of the windows and doors in his house were blown out, as were the windows of the rest of the homes in his neighborhood, he said.

Gary and Donna Redding felt the blast in their home in Combine just outside of Seagoville.

“We heard what sounded like thunder that rattled our storm doors and shook the house slightly for a few seconds,” they said in an e-mail.

Freshman State Rep. Kyle Kacal, R-Bryan, issued a statement expressing sympathy to victims of the blast.

"While little is still known at this time regarding details of this horrific incident, we must continue to keep all those impacted in our thoughts and prayers,” he said.

“As we continue to gather details on this tragic event, I have full confidence in our first responders and stand ready to assist in any way possible," he said.

[Sea Skimmer]

[gigabytelord]

Holy shit, what the hell was that man doing so close? With what is apparently his daughter nonetheless. I hope she's Ok. Sounds like her eardrums probably bursted.

[Sea Skimmer]

You can rule broken eardrums out. Aside from the seemingly limited pain reaction, deafening is much easier then eardrum rupture, the minimal threshold for 1% of eardrums rupture is 5psi ovepressure, which would be just enough to try to flip the truck over. Nothing liek that happens. The 99% rupture level is 45psi which is overlapping with the start of a risk of death from lung crushing. 5psi produces a 163mph dynamic wind speed behind it for reference. 45psi and your into sustained supersonic wind land and even some fairly elaborate bunkers on the surface being destroyed. Human bodies are amazingly blast resistant.

The damage reports seem to be firming up towards about 15 buildings completely destroyed, and 75-heavily damaged. A handful of people are confirmed dead, but it looks like the nursing home was not destroyed as was reported at one point.

[gigabytelord]

Well that's good. Thanks for the info. I do hope both of them are ok.

[Broomstick]

Holy shit, what the hell was that man doing so close?

Watching the fire, of course. People gawk. I'm sure he had no idea it was going to blow up.

[The Yosemite Bear]

also on fertilizer silos go bomom is fairly normal occurance a mollasses storage facility killed people in boston a century ago, but you store any flamibal substance in a big improperly vented container, and well physics happens.

[cosmicalstorm]

The cry of the child made that video uncomfortable. The coverage provided by you, Sea Skimmer, is the best so far. Thanks for the information!

[cosmicalstorm]

Two videos
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=650_1366312090
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=240_1366272529

[Lord of the Abyss]

Well that's good. Thanks for the info. I do hope both of them are ok.

Apparently they are.

A dad shooting video within 300 yards of the West, Texas fertilizer explosion late Wednesday night described a frightening aftermath of the deadly blast.

“It was a pretty horrific scene, some of the injuries we saw,’’ Derrick Hurtt told Matt Lauer on TODAY Thursday. “There was probably double-digit people standing in front of me videoing that were closer than I was, and after the blast, they were nowhere to be seen.”

At least 15 people were killed and more than 160 wounded in the explosion, according to local police. West Mayor Tommy Muska told NBC News that he feared as many as 40 could have died. Firefighters were battling the fire when the explosion caused a ground tremor equivalent to a magnitude-2.1 earthquake, according to the United States Geological Service. Texas Gov. Rick Perry declared it a disaster, asking for an emergency declaration from the federal government.

15 killed, 160 wounded in 'devastating' Texas chemical plant blast

Hurtt was shooting video of the fire from his truck alongside his 12-year-old daughter, Khloey. The plant exploded 33 seconds into their clip. Immediately after the blast, Derrick can be heard asking if Khloey is OK. “Please get out of here, please get out of here, dad please get out of here," she says. "I can’t hear anything.”

“I’m pretty sure it lifted the truck off the ground,’’ Hurtt said. “It just blew me over on top of her. It all happened so quick that things just kind of went black for a moment.”

Hurtt said his daughter’s inner ear is sore but she has her full hearing back. He estimated they were 250 to 300 yards away from the plant when they started filming.

[Sea Skimmer]

At least one guy filming was even closer and survived because like that guy in the pickup, no sources of flying debris around him.

It appears the current count is five known dead, 160 injured but a significant number of people are missing. Some may just be lost in the confusion, but five are firefighters.

The plant had 54,000lb of anhydrous ammonia in two storage tanks, at least one of which was completely consumed in the main explosion.

[cosmicalstorm]

That was quite a mushroom cloud. I wonder what the explosive force would be if it was translated to the kiloton scale. Probably 0.1 Kt or something in that direction.

[Sea Skimmer]

Closer to 25 tons I think then 100 tons eyeballing the video plus ass pull. Its hard to think that anhydrous ammonia is any more energetic then TNT detonating in what appears to be a bleve.

It seems though the plant also did have a serious amount of ammonia nitrate fertilizer on hand, but the silo storing it was not obliterated in a manner suggesting a large amount of it detonated, actually it was thrown off its foundation but basically remained in one split piece, physically blown away from the main building which was the center of the fire-explosion. Such fertilizer doesn't actually explode that easily before you add liquid fuel. It was more likely to be scattered and burned then mass detonated. Hard to know though as of yet, if it wasn't all stored in that silo then some may well have gone off too.

[Sea Skimmer]

Oh, and I meant to add, 12 bodies have been recovered, 200 people have been counted as injured. Searching the debris continues. No clarification has come as to if they still expect that the death toll 'could double' over an earlier estimate of at least 15 dead. Hopefully most of the missing have turned into that increase in known injured, or just weren't home that night.

best view of the damage I've seen, center of the detonation would have been just on the right side of the image near those small white tanks. The large complex on the left is the nursing home, with a block of apartments near destroyed in between it and the blast site.

[Sea Skimmer]

Spam ahoy; the facility had declared capacity for up to 270 tons of ammonia nitrate. Actual amount on hand unknown; but certainly nothing at all like that exploded or everything in the picture above would be rubble.

[Sea Skimmer]

The number of missing has been formally placed at 60. Dead toll remains 12.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04 ... ls-12?lite

By Marian Smith and Elizabeth Chuck, NBC News
Sixty people are still unaccounted for after a fertilizer plant exploded earlier in the week, flattening part of a small Texas town and killing 12 people, officials said.
"With a heavy heart I can confirm 12 people have been recovered, deceased," Sgt. Jason Reyes said at a brief press conference Friday morning. Later in the day, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said that 60 people are missing.
The explosion occurred just before 8 p.m. local time (9 p.m. ET) on Wednesday in West, Texas, which is north of Waco. The scene was described by witnesses as looking like a bombing site in a war zone.

Approximately 200 people were injured and three rescue fire trucks were destroyed, Reyes said. Volunteer firefighters are believed to be among the dead.
Reyes said at least 50 homes had been damaged when the plant, which sits adjacent to a residential area, exploded.
He said no residents were being allowed back in the area, and thanked the search and rescue crews for their "professionalism and heroism as they try to bring closure."
It's not known what caused the massive blast. The operation was still considered a search-and-rescue effort on Friday.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry was expected to visit the small town of West later in the day.

[Dalton]

Here's a Google map from before the explosion...

http://goo.gl/maps/jNRIH

[DieselJester]

Is that a school or a rec center of some kind just to the left of the silos?

[Sea Skimmer]

Playground, tennis courts, then the long strip building is a two story apartment block, large complex beyond that is a nursing home. A middle school took some damage but is out of the frame to the south.

Fun fact, when the place was built in 1962 it did not even need a permit to operate at all, and in fact thanks to a long running grandfather clause it did not need a permit until 2004 which it did obtain. Apparently it largely passed safety inspections, was fined for some problems in 2006 but they weren't that serious and fixed by IIRC 2010 when the fine amount was settled.

It seems with this type of gas the main hazard of this type of facility was considered to be a release of a toxic cloud, as it is serious lung irritant, rather then a fire or explosion as it does not easily ignite.

I live a couple blocks from where long strings of railway tank cars are parked about 20 feet from houses that are full of stuff I'd rather not even think about. This kind of thing is common place in the western world, and about anywhere else with a chemical industry. Just look at that propane depot explosion in what was it, Tornoto a few years ago? Somewhere in Canada anyway. Houses on all sides. Or the British gasoline storage depot blast before that ect... examples are endless but they usually don't kill serious numbers of people anymore.

The general assumption is that a vent values in the tanks should prevent a major boiling explosion before you have time to evacuate people. That was not the case here. A very large fired appears to have ignited suddenly and blown one or both main tanks within 10 minutes. Its a bit suspicious, but impossible to speculate on a cause. We might never know.

[Ekiqa]

Fun fact, when the place was built in 1962 it did not even need a permit to operate at all, and in fact thanks to a long running grandfather clause it did not need a permit until 2004 which it did obtain. Apparently it largely passed safety inspections, was fined for some problems in 2006 but they weren't that serious and fixed by IIRC 2010 when the fine amount was settled.

The fine was apparently due to locals smelling ammonia. Similar smells were reported before the fire. Reports are that the plant had not been inspected in decades, either.