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Explosion in West, Texas

LDB

LDB

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
Note the comma, very important. The town of West, Texas has been devastated by an explosion at a fertilizer factory. West is located just off I-35 a few miles north of Waco in central Texas. Details are coming in but minimal so far other than extreme devastation around the blast area and a request to stay off of I-35 in that area as the emergency vehicles do their jobs.
 
Monty

Monty

Expert Expediter
I had a chuckle just now as I was watching The Weather Channel, they had a "news blurb" on it ... The news reporterette said in an anstounding voice, "They are treating it like a CRIME SCENE" ...

Well duh, you know of any better way to preserve the clues they will need to piece it together. Being TREATED as a crime scene, does not mean it IS a crime scene.
 
LDB

LDB

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If reports are correct 5 firefighters and 1 police officer were killed in the initial blast with 15 total fatalities.
 
OntarioVanMan

OntarioVanMan

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Owner/Operator
Notanewbie said:
I had a chuckle just now as I was watching The Weather Channel, they had a "news blurb" on it ... The news reporterette said in an anstounding voice, "They are treating it like a CRIME SCENE" ...

Well duh, you know of any better way to preserve the clues they will need to piece it together. Being TREATED as a crime scene, does not mean it IS a crime scene.
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The firemarshall will determine what happened...??
 
P

purgoose10

Veteran Expediter
LDB said:
If reports are correct 5 firefighters and 1 police officer were killed in the initial blast with 15 total fatalities.
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Nitrate should be treated the same as dynamite in a fire. If Nitrate is hot and around a fire spraying it with water and removing the oxygen it will blow. Just a guess as to the firefighters. They may not have known what they were fighting to begin with.
 
OntarioVanMan

OntarioVanMan

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purgoose10 said:
Nitrate should be treated the same as dynamite in a fire. If Nitrate is hot and around a fire spraying it with water and removing the oxygen it will blow. Just a guess as to the firefighters. They may not have known what they were fighting to begin with.
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Usually most companies have to file a report with the local fire department on chemicals stored just in case something like this happens... when a fire captain is on scene he should already know what to deal with...
 
Monty

Monty

Expert Expediter
Yes, but the fire marshall is actually cop in disguise, as he investigates possible arson.

Seems the explosions came from anhydrous ammonia tanks at the location.

I am not a big proponent of regulations on business, but it seems to me this plant, (with it's inherent dangers), should have not been in such close range of the homes, schools and business's it affected.
 
LDB

LDB

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Notanewbie said:
I am not a big proponent of regulations on business, but it seems to me this plant, (with it's inherent dangers), should have not been in such close range of the homes, schools and business's it affected.
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I don't know the specifics on this particular plant, and don't disagree with your thesis, but what about the facilities that are isolated until the various homes, schools and businesses later build nearby? Our airport is one good example. It was in the country until neighborhoods chose to build off the ends of the runways. Now pilots are forced to take unsafe noise abatement measures, potentially endangering plane loads of passengers, to placate the fools who moved to the end of a runway.
 
Turtle

Turtle

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Notanewbie said:
I am not a big proponent of regulations on business, but it seems to me this plant, (with it's inherent dangers), should have not been in such close range of the homes, schools and business's it affected.
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There's yer first "clue" in piecing it together - almost no zoning laws at all in Texas (and many rural areas throughout the country). They have a serious environmental and health problem in Dallas as a result of building low income housing right next door to a lead smelting facility. Anyone remember a few years ago the very impressive chain-reaction of explosions of the acetylene gas tanks at a storage depot right next to downtown Dallas? The fertilizer plant in West is little more than a really, really big Oklahoma City Bomb just waiting to be set off.
 
Turtle

Turtle

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LDB said:
I don't know the specifics on this particular plant, and don't disagree with your thesis, but what about the facilities that are isolated until the various homes, schools and businesses later build nearby? Our airport is one good example. It was in the country until neighborhoods chose to build off the ends of the runways. Now pilots are forced to take unsafe noise abatement measures, potentially endangering plane loads of passengers, to placate the fools who moved to the end of a runway.
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In the rest of the civilized world, Zoning Laws prevent the various homes, schools and business building nearby.
 
layoutshooter

layoutshooter

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Turtle said:
In the rest of the civilized world, Zoning Laws prevent the various homes, schools and business building nearby.
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It is not out of the ordinary for housing to be built within walking distance or a very short drive of places of employment. Steel mills, refineries and factories of all kinds have had "towns" spring up near them making it easier for employees to get to work.

With modern zoning that has changed, making these kinds of things less likely to occur. It has also increased commuting distances and costs. It makes it harder for employees to get to work during bad weather.

I too would wonder, which came first, the houses or the plant?

AS Leo pointed out. The Detroit Metro Airport was built on what was once farms and woods. AFTER it was built housing sprang up around it and THEN people complained.

Kinda like the gun club I belong to. Houses were built across the street. People bought those house KNOWING that the club was there, and then complain about the noise and danger a gun club presents.
 
Turtle

Turtle

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layoutshooter said:
AS Leo pointed out. The Detroit Metro Airport was built on what was once farms and woods. AFTER it was built housing sprang up around it and THEN people complained.
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Greater Cincinnati Airport, same thing. Except, zoning laws prevented houses from springing up. Any houses that do get built, are built with the understanding that complaining about airport-related issues are not permitted.
 
layoutshooter

layoutshooter

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Turtle said:
Greater Cincinnati Airport, same thing. Except, zoning laws prevented houses from springing up. Any houses that do get built, are built with the understanding that complaining about airport-related issues are not permitted.
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Wayne county bought out a lot of homes around the airport and took them down. Found to be less expensive and safer than messing with the owners.
 
LDB

LDB

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layoutshooter said:
Wayne county bought out a lot of homes around the airport and took them down. Found to be less expensive and safer than messing with the owners.
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Ridiculous when they should just be told "you made your choice so either shut up or relocate".
 
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