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Explosion hits fertilizer plant north of Waco, Texas

Holy crap. Any word on what started the fire? Was this an accident?
 
winston53660 said:
Parkland here in Dallas is one of the number one burn centers in the country. It is also a level one trauma center.

Driving Waco / West is about 90 minutes away. By helicopter I'm not sure what the time would be. I'm sure Parkland will send a news alert on facebook or something.
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Helo, full throttle which is usually 140-175 probably going to be around 10-20 minutes by my very rough estimate because it's an unimpeded flight, but I'm not a pilot so not exactly sure.
 
Fiddytree said:
I was relieved when there were no headlines saying there were deaths, and then I clicked on links reporting that there were confirmed deaths (with no numbers), and then the relief went away completely and then...well.....still....Jesus Christ.
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for what it is worth i also posted that on facebook. and yeah i live around here.
 
An additional concern is that this plant had twin 12,000 gallon tanks of anhydrous (without water) ammonia under high pressure. When released into the atmosphere, NH[sub]3[/sub] causes severe dehydration and burns in humans as it reacts to water in the body. Body tissues that contain a high percentage of water, such as the eyes, skin, and respiratory tract, are very easily burned. The standard Hazmat response is immediate treatment with large quantities of water to minimize the damage.
 
They started out calling it a crime scene, and I think the reason is because these places usually have massive safety programs. They house the constuent materials in separate facilities that have their own safety requirements. So the police initially assume wrong doing until proven an accident. It also serves to secure and preserve the scene of the accident and the evidence.
 
Simpleχity;1061706130 said:
An additional concern is that this plant had twin 12,000 gallon tanks of anhydrous (without water) ammonia under high pressure. When released into the atmosphere, NH[sub]3[/sub] causes severe dehydration and burns in humans as it reacts to water in the body. Body tissues that contain a high percentage of water, such as the eyes, skin, and respiratory tract, are very easily burned. The standard Hazmat response is immediate treatment with large quantities of water to minimize the damage.
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The air quality had returned to normal as of this morning. (wind blowing pretty stiff all night and a thunderstorm passing through as a I type)
 
Erod said:
Holy crap. Any word on what started the fire? Was this an accident?
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So far it doesn't look like any kind of attack, but after all that's happened, who knows.


God, this week is terrible.
 
American said:
They started out calling it a crime scene, and I think the reason is because these places usually have massive safety programs. They house the constuent materials in separate facilities that have their own safety requirements. So the police initially assume wrong doing until proven an accident. It also serves to secure and preserve the scene of the accident and the evidence.
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I havent heard that. Is there more to that story? I'd like to read about it.
 
Looking around the news stories, 5-15 reported fatalities, but they are missing three first responders. 180 are in hospitals, 16 of them in critical condition. So sad. And they have to deal with the ammonia in the air and the damage that will cause.

What I can't believe though, there is looting going on. What the heck? The authorities say there are unidentified people in the area.
 
madman said:
I havent heard that. Is there more to that story? I'd like to read about it.
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All structural fires are considered crime scenes until after the cause is determined.
 
We may not know what caused the fire yet, but clearly somthing went wrong in order for the fire to happen.

Was this fertilizer plant safety measures up to muster?
 
madman said:
Well, then obvious is obvious, right?
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It could be an accident; could be arson; could be sabotage. When water and the ingredients of fertilizer or fertilizer mix, things can go south. Someone could have made that happen as well. Who knows at this point. The son of the owner was saying last night they had no idea of the cause yet of the fire that resulted in the explosion.
 
Fisher said:
It could be an accident; could be arson; could be sabotage. When water and the ingredients of fertilizer or fertilizer mix, things can go south. Someone could have made that happen as well. Who knows at this point. The son of the owner was saying last night they had no idea of the cause yet of the fire that resulted in the explosion.
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Right!
user: American was saying "THEY" in his post.

They started out calling it a crime scene
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I just wanted to know who "they" was.
 
When a rail car went up in my area when I was a kid, they first thought it was because they had not let some fertilizer cool when they cooked it. IIRC that later concluded that it was because something got wet in a localized rain shower and set off a chain reaction. It is really hard to even guess these things when it comes to something as reactive as fertilizer and its ingredients.
 
SgtRock said:
Texas Town of West located between Hillsboro and Waco along interstate 35 rocked by massive explosion. Ammonium nitrate fertilizer plant explodes. I just heard 60 dead and 100 injured on the local news here in North Texas. Please pray for the victims and the people of West.

Explosion hits fertilizer plant north of Waco, Texas - CNN.com
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Very sad indeed, one would think there were safety protocols in place to prevent it; but given the explosive nature of ammonium nitrate, it may be impossible to store it 100% safely.
 
that's awful. i wish that guy hadn't taken his kid that close. hopefully they are ok.

as for the hearing loss, i had an antique .22 blow up on me when i was ten, and i was deaf for a day. hearing came back completely, though. hopefully it will for them, too.

in the 1990s, we had a chemical plant blow up many miles from my town, but i still heard the boom, and it was significant. i remember driving home that night and seeing what looked like the setting sun on the wrong horizon. it was eerie.
 
Still haven't seen one report on how this fire started.
 
Wow, that explosion looked epic. I can't imagine what it must be like to be in proximity.

Accidents happen.... hopefully however this was started it can be figured out so more technical safety measures can be put into place.
 
Erod said:
Still haven't seen one report on how this fire started.
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That usually takes time. I think right now they are busy securing the scene, putting out hot spots, gathering bodies, etc. Sometimes it takes months to figure that out.
 
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