Plant Explosion at my favorite I-35 stop

[lsiberian]

[video=youtube;ROrpKx3aIjA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROrpKx3aIjA[/video]

I am in shock. I used to eat at a local kolache place in the town almost everyday and I'm just sick seeing the damage. This is a landmark town in our state because they have amazing kolaches.

Please pray for that town. The people were always so nice to me as I bought their wonderful goods. I'm not sure how long they will be out of commission, but it is very small town and 1 out of every 10 people have been injured. Several families have lost their homes too.

 

[darien87]

Never had Kolache.

Is this the plant you're talking about? If so it's made national news.

Rescuers search ruins of Texas fertilizer plant

 

[TLS Guy]

[video=youtube;ROrpKx3aIjA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROrpKx3aIjA[/video]

I am in shock. I used to eat at a local kolache place in the town almost everyday and I'm just sick seeing the damage. This is a landmark town in our state because they have amazing kolaches.

Please pray for that town. The people were always so nice to me as I bought their wonderful goods. I'm not sure how long they will be out of commission, but it is very small town and 1 out of every 10 people have been injured. Several families have lost their homes too.

Disasters like that are always very sad affairs. Since that is a small town recovery will be an uphill battle. This is truly a bad tragedy and I offer my sympathies.

 

[j_garcia]

That's got to be really tough on a small town. Prayers for all of them.

If I knew there was a fertilizer plant burning, I SURE AS HELL would not have been filming it from that close.

 

[its phillip]

I've been to the Czech Stop before

I have a friend who lives in West with her two young children (her husband is away for work or whatever). They live 3 or 4 miles from that plant. They were pretty shaken up and scared, but fortunately uninjured.

 

[majorloser]

That's got to be really tough on a small town. Prayers for all of them.

If I knew there was a fertilizer plant burning, I SURE AS HELL would not have been filming it from that close.

Do a search of that plant on Google Earth. The plant is only on the other side of railroad tracks with a residential neighborhood on the other side. There is a playground, middle school and high school right next to the plant on the other side of the tracks. I'm sure those who were filming were looking right out their own back yards.

The plant isn't really that big of a facility, but I'm sure it's a very large part of the economy for that town. The loss of life and property will be very tough for a small town like that to live through.

 

[j_garcia]

Do a search of that plant on Google Earth. The plant is only on the other side of railroad tracks with a residential neighborhood on the other side. There is a playground, middle school and high school right next to the plant on the other side of the tracks. I'm sure those who were filming were looking right out their own back yards.

The plant isn't really that big of a facility, but I'm sure it's a very large part of the economy for that town. The loss of life and property will be very tough for a small town like that to live through.

Yeah, I had read the article before I saw this posted.

 

[lsiberian]

I just wanted to let everyone know the Czech stop is open and serving the emergency workers who definitely will have better spirits with that wonderful breakfast. Just tells you the character of the town. Even when they could be closed for obvious reasons they still choose to feed the workers in town.

 

[slipperybidness]

+1 to the Czech stop. I love that place.

Yeah, this is only a couple hours up 35 from me too.

I've been working in industry (as a scientist) for 11 years now and my stomach always drops when I see something like this. You get into the day to day habit and forget that you work in a hazardous environment until you see a brutal reminder like this. I'm really curious what the root cause was.

 

[panteragstk]

Wow, I drive through there all the time to go visit the in-laws. Pretty scary. First the chemical plant, now this. Wow.

 

[Swerd]

I'm glad to hear something nearby survived. There must have been an extremely large amount of ammonium nitrate to make such a powerful explosion. What a disaster!

A nursing home, hospital and two schools were right next to the plant. I have to ask, didn't this small town have any zoning laws?

I copied this photo from CBS News:

 

[bikemig]

So apparently the west fertilizer plant said this could never happen:

West fertilizer plant said in report that it presented no risk | Dallasnews.com - News for Dallas, Texas - The Dallas Morning News

 

[ParadigmDawg]

It's sucks, I always stop by on the way to Austin and pig out.

Not sure little places like this have the same zoning laws.

 

[Soccerkid830]

So apparently the west fertilizer plant said this could never happen:

West fertilizer plant said in report that it presented no risk | Dallasnews.com - News for Dallas, Texas - The Dallas Morning News

This is a general statement. Chemical plants are under so many laws and regulations that it is actually safer for you to be in a chemical plant than it is in your own home. There are more deaths/injuries in personal homes than in chemical plants on a yearly basis.

So yes, they are going to say the chemical posed no inherent risk.


Apparently the explosion measured a 2.1 on the Richter scale, 400 miles away.

 

[allargon]

It's sucks, I always stop by on the way to Austin and pig out.

Not sure little places like this have the same zoning laws.

I would stop by on the way from Austin to Dallas.