The Waco Tribune
4/17/2013
Several firefighters and others were injured in a fertilizer plant explosion in West shortly before 8 p.m.
Multiple buildings were reported to be on fire, including West Middle School, 406 W. Shook St., after the explosion at West Fertilizer Co., 1471 Jerry Mashek Drive, and a dispatcher calling for ambulances said “we do have a lot of injured here.”…
…Bill Bohannan, who was visiting his parents at their house in West, near the plant, witnessed the explosion and said it was a devastating blast.
“I said, ‘This thing is going to blow’ … and I told my mom and dad to get in the car,” Bohannan said. “I was standing next to my car with my fiancee, waiting for my parents to come out and (the plant) exploded. It knocked us into the car… Every house within about four blocks is blown apart.”
A stream of emergency vehicles, including ambulances, sheriff’s deputies, and other emergency vehicles, poured into the town shortly after the explosion. A Hill County sheriff’s deputy who was directing traffic said the explosion shook the windows of his home in Whitney, staff writer Tommy Witherspoon reported. The deputy said a fire broke out at the fertilizer plant and the blast occurred while firefighters were trying to put it out. Many of the injured are fighters, he said….
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From WFAA in Texas, Powerful explosion rocks small town north of Waco
WEST, Texas — A large explosion rocked the town of West, Texas, 19 miles north of Waco, on Wednesday evening.
A source tells News 8 that a large swath of the small town with a population of 2,800 has been leveled.
The blast around 8 p.m. was at the West Fertilizer plant at 1471 Jerry Mashek Drive, about a half-mile east of Interstate 35.
Shortly before 10 p.m., a dispatcher was advising emergency crews to move away from the burning plant due to concern about chemicals in unexploded tanks…
Update: Numerous Injuries Reported in West Fertilizer Plant Explosion.
West EMS Director Dr. George Smith says as many as 60 or 70 people died and hundreds were injured Wednesday night in a fertilizer plant explosion in West.
A rescuer earlier said he knew of five deaths.
Meanwhile, emergency crews were pulling back late Wednesday night because of concerns about the possibility of a second explosion.
Emergency crews from throughout Central Texas responded just before 8 p.m. Wednesday after the first explosion at the plant in the small town north of Waco…
H/T Todd Starnes, Fox News Radio
Jim Hoft reminds his readers that this week is the 20th anniversary of the Clinton administration’s siege at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, TX.
Update 3: Missing firefighter found, hospitalized after West, Texas, explosion; Several still missing
