A fire last night went out of control at the West Fertilizer Plant in West, Texas.  As the fire burned near explosive material, firefighters were helpless to stop the resulting explosion that quite literally rocked the state of Texas.  The explosion was so powerful it measured as a 2.1 on the Richter scale, destroyed dozens of homes, and have forced hundreds of people to be evacuated thanks to clouds of poisonous ammonia.  At least 179 people have been injured and anywhere between 5 and 15 people are believed to be dead.  Even now, West, Texas burns.

“At this point, we don’t know a number that have been killed,” said Sgt. William Patrick Swanton of the Waco Police Department.  “I will confirm there have been fatalities.”

When it comes to things to worry about, fertilizer explosions are about as risky as natural gas explosions can be and are perhaps more dangerous to people than even a volcanic eruption due to the clouds of poison.  Untold numbers of people have been horribly injured and could be trapped in the homes around the fertilizer plant, and if the winds shift, those clouds of poisonous ammonia could reach the nearby town of Waco.

So yeah, this has been a bad week for disasters and explosions.

Tags: west, texas, fertilizer plant explosion, fertilizer plant explodes, west texas fertilizer plant explodes, fertilizer plant explodes and forces town evacuation, evacuation in west texas, town evacuated after fertilizer plant explosion, west fertilizer plant, waco, waco police department, William Patrick Swanton

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