Fertilizer Plant Explosion near Waco Texas

This is heartbreaking news too.


http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/explosion-at-fertiliser-plant-near-waco-texas/story-e6frg6n6-1226623333230

Just switched on BBC News and saw this. Oh, dear lady, the USA is really having a bad time! And which idiot had the bright idea of locating a fertilizer factory slap bang in the middle of a residential area? LL

Not only that, there was a fire that broke out at the plant earlier. The people fighting that fire used water. I believe I read that this was volunteer firefighters. That is what caused the explosion.......

lily wrote:Not only that, there was a fire that broke out at the plant earlier. The people fighting that fire used water. I believe I read that this was volunteer firefighters. That is what caused the explosion.......

I was under the impression that foam was used for fires in places such as this, not water. A friend of mine in England had a house fire and foam was used there, and that was 10 years ago. The foam is fire retardant and therefore good, water can in fact cause more problems. And if the water was sprayed on or near electrical points or boxes it can cause shorting and then there will be an explosion. LL

A blaze had broken out earlier at the plant, and the explosion occurred while firefighters were trying to put it out.

“It was a small fire and then water got sprayed on the ammonium nitrate, and it exploded just like the Oklahoma City bomb,” said Jason Shelton, a clerk at the Czech Best Western Hotel in West. “I live about a thousand feet from it and it blew my screen door off and my back windows. There’s houses leveled that were right next to it.”


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

The above was the source I saw. Of course, it is possible that it is not correct?

If it is, that was crazy.

.... water got sprayed on the ammonium nitrate

I don't claim to know much about this, but surely the ammonium nitrate would have been stored in a safe tank, or at least contained somehow so that leaks etc would not occur. I think the water was sprayed on the electrical connections. I found this:

Is Ammonium Nitrate flammable or explosive?
Ammonium nitrate is non flammable, a fire from ammonium nitrate is very unlikely, but it is a strong oxidizing agent that can cause combustible materials (such as wood, paper, and oil) to ignite. Only under extreme conditions of heat and pressure in a confined space will ammonium nitrate explode. Should such an incident occur, there may be a visible cloud of ammonia, carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides.

So, if it isn't inflammable, what caused the fire that built up such heat that it did go bang? LL

You know what, LL, it doesn't sound right, does it?

I think I will go with a hearsay type response by the person in the hotel until it is proved otherwise.

There appears to have been some confusion all around early on today with the reporting. Understandably so.

I cannot believe that residential buildings were allowed to be built so close to the plant.

We shouldn't point fingers while the casualties are being pulled out, but...a fertiliser plant in a residential area?

Fertiliser? The terrorist's favourite ingredient in home made bombs?

http://news.sky.com/story/1079620/texas-explosion-town-totally-decimated

Debby Marak told The Associated Press she noticed a lot of smoke coming from the area across town near the plant, which is near a nursing home.

She said she drove over to see what was happening, and when she got out of her car two boys ran towards her screaming that officials told them to leave because the plant was going to explode.

Moments later the blast happened.

Bonny, it sounds mind numbingly stupid, doesn't it?

The poor people.

Someone pointed out that this is not far from Waco, and that tomorrow 19 April will be the 20th anniversary of the final shoot-out between the FBI and Koresh (?) and his cult. LL

That is right, LL.

Some comments on there by a certain snap your neck fellow.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/texas-explosion-five-to-15-dead-and-hundreds-injured-in-fertiliser-plant-blast-in-the-town-of-west-near-waco-8577619.html

Spudgun> Ian C. Purdie - Sydney • 26 minutes ago −
Perhaps you could provide me with a few examples? Since "most" large US business are supposed to have these "military divisions", I'm sure it won't be too difficult for you. Or are these the ramblings of a rather deluded old man..?

Well, he'd be the expert on rambling, deluded old men.....

lily wrote:That is right, LL.

Some comments on there by a certain snap your neck fellow.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/texas-explosion-five-to-15-dead-and-hundreds-injured-in-fertiliser-plant-blast-in-the-town-of-west-near-waco-8577619.html

So I see. Pity I can't post on there or I would ask him if he is taking time off from harassing and threatening violence to the McCanns. LL

He's such an angry neck snapper, isn't he?

http://news.sky.com/story/1079620/texas-explosion-looters-target-town

What kind of scum loots after a disaster like this? Though I am sure the Texas police will deal with such lowlifes robustly...

bb1 wrote:http://news.sky.com/story/1079620/texas-explosion-looters-target-town

What kind of scum loots after a disaster like this? Though I am sure the Texas police will deal with such lowlifes robustly...

Looters don't care, they see no shame in the practice. There were looters around the WTC on 9/ll and there were lots of them after the Japanese tsunami and the tragedies in Haiti and New Orleans. LL