Massive Fertilizer Explosion in West, TX

[DocM]

It's called a fuel-air explosion, or thermobaric explosion. and they can generate overpressure waves greater than a small tactical nuke**. Nasty SOB's.

We had a grain silo explosion near here about 20 years ago that tossed oversize solid concrete blocks almost a mile.

** 1 kiloton nuke air burst is up to 50 psi overpressure. Military fuel-lair explosives can run up to 450 psi, travelling at over 7,000 mph.

[theyarecomingforyou]

When you have something that is somewhat flammable in a fine powered airborne form like even simple flour, just a small spark can create an explosion on par with a large military bomb.

Exactly. Airborne flour can be extremely explosive, let alone fertiliser (a product used in a lot of explosives).

This is a terrible tragedy and hopefully not the result of negligence, criminal or otherwise. The video posted earlier, despite being very low quality, did a good job conveying the scale of the incident. But it serves as an example of how people react to?what appears to be?an accident like this in comparison to a much less deadly deliberate attack like the Boston Marathon Bombing - even relatively small terrorist attacks cause a massive amount of fear and anger, greatly disproportional to the actual risk posed to society.

[mudslag]

I'm in Abilene, and I swore we had a minor earthquake earlier in the evening. Could've just been me, but I swear, I felt the concrete below my feet shaking...or maybe it was the explosion, but either way, it was weird. I literally felt the ground shake, like it was shaking my boots. Could be related, but then again, maybe it wasn't, I'm not sure either way....still, a scary scenario either way, and I pray for the families this explosion may have affected. Such sad, sad things, happening in our country. Makes me sad. :'(

They said the blast cause a 2.1 on the Richter scale and could be felt up to 50 miles away.

[mudslag]

This is why you need zoning restictions

[2xSilverKnight]

Seriously .... who the ****'s idea was it to have a plant like this near a school, nursing home and the hospital

[mudslag]

Seriously .... who the ****'s idea was it to have a plant like this near a school, nursing home and the hospital

The plant was there first but they could still have had regulations stating those other places couldn't be built so close

[2xSilverKnight]

The plant was there first but they could still have had regulations stating those other places couldn't be built so close

Either way, that was my point.

[mudslag]

I understand, it was stupid to build so close

[Sylar0]

So was this an accident or a fire started by terrorists not been following it?

[DocM]

Appears accidental. When there are fires near ammonium nitrate bad things can happen.

[Growled Member]

I just keep hoping that it will stay an accident.

[Shiranui]

So it was anhydrous ammonia... Might as well have been a TNT factory in a built-up area.

[+Raze Subscriber²]

Similar to the PEPCON disaster in Nevada in 1988. They produced ammonium perchlorate used in solid fuel rocket boosters as an oxidizer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEPCON_disaster

http://youtu.be/HJVOUgCm5Jk

[Shiranui]

A group of heartless murderers who killed 3 and injured over 170.

A group of negligent manslaughterers responsible for the death of as many as 35 and injuries to around 160.

Who is worse?

Discuss.

[trag3dy]

1) How do you know it was a group? Besides that it has nothing to do with this thread.

2) How do you know it was caused by some one, accidental or otherwise? It could have just been machinery malfunction that started it all.

I don't see any need to discuss it further in this particular thread.

[Shiranui]

1) How do you know it was a group? Besides that it has nothing to do with this thread.

2) How do you know it was caused by some one, accidental or otherwise? It could have just been machinery malfunction that started it all.

I don't see any need to discuss it further in this particular thread.

Wasn't actually expecting a discussion - they are indeed unrelated - I just thought the numbers were interesting.

That plant is an inherently unsafe place and thus requires extremely stringent safety protocols. Barring a freak accident, someone could well find themselves in a lot of trouble once more information about the cause of the explosion is uncovered.

[soniqstylz]

Of note, this guy was at both the Boston Marathon, and close enough to see the Texas explosion.

Survived both with no harm. Stay either very far away from this man, or very close.

http://gawker.com/5995027/unluckiest-luckiest-man-survives-both-marathon-bombing-and-waco-blast

[FloatingFatMan]

Appears accidental. When there are fires near ammonium nitrate bad things can happen.

Doc, you have a talent for understatement! :p

[Growled Member]

Seriously .... who the ****'s idea was it to have a plant like this near a school, nursing home and the hospital

Well, I guess at the time nothing bad had ever happened so they figured nothing probably ever would. I bet they reconsider that now.

[Gerowen]

Somebody just posted this video on Facebook from a slightly further distance than the first video shared, and in this one you can clearly see that prior to the explosion, rescue workers and firefighters are already on the scene fighting the fire, and then once the explosion happens I guess it took their truck and everything with it because you don't see their flashing lights any more. Really quite sad. I haven't gone looking for a YouTube link yet, so here's where I saw it.

Warning, some language may be NSFW.

https://www.facebook...151444935809601

[jwjw1]

reports are saying that some 60 are still unaccounted for.... a blast of that magnitude/heat can turn bodies into mist vapor.

[Gerowen]

reports are saying that some 60 are still unaccounted for.... a blast of that magnitude/heat can turn bodies into mist vapor.

It's crazy to watch that video, and realize that at the beginning of that 50 second clip, there are living, breathing human beings just like us in there just trying to do their job and minimize damage, and by the end of it they're all dead.

[mudslag]

Texas Explosion Seen as Sign of Weak U.S. Oversight

http://www.bloomberg...-oversight.html

The Texas plant that was the scene of a deadly explosion this week was last inspected by theOccupational Safety and Health Administration in 1985. The risk plan it filed with regulators listed no flammable chemicals.

[mudslag]

Texas fertilizer company didn't heed disclosure rules before blast

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/20/us-usa-explosion-regulation-idUSBRE93J09N20130420

The fertilizer plant that exploded on Wednesday, obliterating part of a small Texas town and killing at least 14 people, had last year been storing 1,350 times the amount of ammonium nitrate that would normally trigger safety oversight by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

[DocM]

Similar to the PEPCON disaster in Nevada in 1988. They produced ammonium perchlorate used in solid fuel rocket boosters as an oxidizer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEPCON_disaster

The two final PEPCON explosions totaled 2.7 kilotons of TNT blast equivalence, with each being slightly more powerful than West. Hiroshima's Little Boy nuke was 16 kilotons.