What the heck happened in West?

[GrTigers6]

Hearing stories of an explosion and my daughter said she felt it in waxahachie!

[Additup]

Hearing stories of an explosion and my daughter said she felt it in waxahachie!

Fertilizer plant explosion...I can confirm from another source that it was felt in Waxahachie. They thought it was an earthquake.

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20130417-breaking-news-explosion-injuries-reported-at-fertilizer-plant-in-west-texas.ece

[Rocket Man]

http://www.kxxv.com/story/22007902/explosioin

[GrTigers6]

Prayers for all involved!

[Rocket Man]

FROM KWTX:

WACO (April 17, 2013)—Emergency crews from throughout Central Texas responded Wednesday night after 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.

There were reports 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 are among the victims, according to reports from the scene.

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

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 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.

Six helicopters were en route to West and were landing at the baseball field on Tokio Road, south of town, said Gayle Scarbrough, Department of Public Safety Communications in Waco.

Another report indicated as many as a dozen helicopters were responding.

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.

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.

[Old Tiger]

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/164925_10151394023821795_319765994_n.jpg

[Old Tiger]

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/3586_10151547489250742_517456704_n.jpg

[Emerson1]

I felt it 90 miles away in Forney.

[Eagle 1]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROrpKx3aIjA&feature=player_embedded#t=0s

[Old Tiger]

Look at this post from Google+ a week ago

https://plus.google.com/104431866768356196991/about?hl=en&partnerid=gplp0

['Necks 2013-14]

Prayers go out to all of those involved. Sad news for sure.

[Old Tiger]

sounds like there are multiple house fires also.

[Matthew328]

it isn't dated??

[Old Tiger]

http://distilleryimage10.ak.instagram.com/84be1a52a7c411e2866422000a1f9c90_7.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BIGLnsRCQAAxzaM.jpg:large

http://i.imgur.com/NHmVmTK.png


A source tells Cox Media Group National News that there are more than 100 victims and that local hospitals are having to send patients to trauma centers in other cities.



Apartments withing 500' of plant
http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p482/cpes010/E4121CC6-9BD9-4D3A-A748-6B7FE022D8BC-472-0000002C0DF1B924_zpsa4e2eb9d.jpg

[Old Tiger]

Around 10 pm tonight it was said that the second chemical tank was on fire and an evacuation of 30 mile radius is in store


25mph winds with toxic fumes in the air....rain is supposed to hit that area tonight....good or bad?

[Old Tiger]

CBS reporting possibly 60-70 dead and roughly 200 injured

[Old Tiger]

DPS said 75-100 businesses and homes are completely destroyed.

[Old Tiger]

KWTX weather guy says that fumes have entered southern Hill County

[Yoe_09]

Tragic news. Prayers go out to everyone in the West community.

[Old Tiger]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BIG0OB5CcAAovQx.jpg

seismograph in Amarillo

[SHSBulldog00]

Has anyone heard from WTBroadcaster?

[Old Tiger]

Has anyone heard from WTBroadcaster?

Or any other West posters we have on here

[Old Tiger]

Explosion registered as a M 2.1 earthquake.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquak...00g9yl#summary

As the commentary mentions this magnitude does not reflect the true amount of energy released by the explosion since it occurred on the surface. To put in perspective the latest N. Korean underground nuclear test was M 4.9.

[Yoe_09]

Has anyone heard from WTBroadcaster?

I am not 100% sure if this is WTBroadcaster, but the person I know of that works for KMAC and is a broadcaster from West is safe.

[YTBulldogs]

Thoughts and prayers to those fellow firefighters fighting the blaze when it exploded. They didn't know what hit them I'm sure, and my never be found. GOD speed to their family and they shall always be remembered as heroes.

[SHSBulldog00]

I am not 100% sure if this is WTBroadcaster, but the person I know of that works for KMAC and is a broadcaster from West is safe.

He is safe. He evacuated with his parents and dog last night.

[Trashman]

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/164925_10151394023821795_319765994_n.jpg

That is a picture of the Cosden refinery explosion in 2011. it has been widely circuclated by the news media as being of the explosion in West.