At 7:53 pm last night, disaster struck the small town of West, Texas — 20 miles north of Waco, 45 miles from President George W. Bush’s ranch in Crawford, and 80 miles south of Dallas.
A massive explosion struck the West Fertilizer Co. off I-35, devastating and setting fire to a 4-block radius, causing 60-70 deaths and countless injuries. Among the dead are two emergency personnel. 3-5 firefighters and one police officer are reported missing and feared dead.
DallasNews.com reports that the explosion was so huge, it registered as a 2.1 earthquake and could be heard 45 miles away in Waxahachie.
Officials said more than 160 people had been treated for injuries at various hospitals, but that number could continue to climb as emergency personnel search for survivors at 5 a.m.
West Mayor Tommy Muska, who is also a volunteer firefighter, said there was a small fire at the fertilizer plant at 7:29 p.m. When firefighters tried to put the fire out, water got sprayed on the ammonium nitrate, and the plant exploded.
Authorities were evacuating residents of the town of 2,600, including more than 130 occupants of a nearby nursing home badly damaged in the blast that had spread debris across a wide area.
City Council member Al Vanek said a four-block area around the explosion’s epicenter was “totally decimated.” Other witnesses compared the scene to that of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, and authorities said the plant made materials similar to that used to fuel the bomb that tore apart that city’s Murrah Federal Building.
Numerous buildings were on fire, including the nursing home and West Middle School. Everything around the plant had been blown apart or collapsed, including a nearby apartment complex with about 50 units that had been destroyed. Among the damaged buildings were 50 to 75 houses.
“That whole side of town looks like a disaster,” Bill Manolakis said. “Who in their right mind sticks a damn plant next to houses?”
Witnesses described a chaotic scene, with rescuers and evacuees scrambling as traffic backed up for miles on I-35 and livestock ran loose.
A triage center that had been set up at West High School was being moved after emergency personnel became worried that harmful fumes might spread. Authorities were also monitoring a second tank near the blast site that was prompting concerns of another explosion.
The main fire was under control by 11 p.m., but residents were urged to remain indoors because of the threat of new explosions or leaks of ammonia from the plant’s ruins.
Paul Manigrasso, a Gulf War veteran, 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 told KWTX-TV.
Andy Bartee of Dallas was driving home from Austin when he stopped at a convenience store about five miles from the explosion. Suddenly the lights went out and the explosion rocked the building.
“You could feel it in your chest and ears,” he said. Ceiling tiles fell and pictures on the wall broke. “It looked like a mushroom cloud. It looked like an atom bomb had been dropped. I’ve never seen or felt anything like that.”
Debby Marak said she had seen the plant burning and had driven closer to see what was happening but reversed direction after two boys ran toward her screaming that authorities had told them to flee because the plant was going to explode. “It was like being in a tornado,” Marak said. “Stuff was flying everywhere. It blew out my windshield. It was like the whole Earth shook.”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will be investigating the incident, but officials have emphasized that they have not determined whether the incident was anything but an industrial accident. However, authorities have said they will treat the blast zone as a crime scene until they have determined the cause of the explosion for certain.
The disaster drew worldwide media attention, as well as widespread expressions of sympathy. Pope Francis issued a request online: “Please join me in praying for the victims of the explosion in Texas and their families.”
~Eowyn
