#259304 - 04/18/13 09:03 AM
Many feared dead in large explosion in Texas
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Addict
Registered: 05/23/08
Posts: 483
Loc: Somerset UK
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Very sad, large explosion at a fertiliser plant. link Let this tragedy be a sad reminder that some disasters strike suddenly without warning, unlike say extreme weather. Shows the importance of being prepared, first aid skils and supplies would be especialy valuable in such cases. I am sure that all our thoughts are with the bereaved and injured.
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#259307 - 04/18/13 11:05 AM
Re: Many feared dead in large explosion in Texas
[Re: adam2]
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 11/09/06
Posts: 2851
Loc: La-USA
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1kt of explosive force!
_________________________
QMC, USCG (Ret)
The best luck is what you make yourself!
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#259308 - 04/18/13 11:25 AM
Re: Many feared dead in large explosion in Texas
[Re: adam2]
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Addict
Registered: 09/13/07
Posts: 449
Loc: Texas
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#259310 - 04/18/13 11:40 AM
Re: Many feared dead in large explosion in Texas
[Re: adam2]
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 05/05/07
Posts: 3601
Loc: Ontario, Canada
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#259319 - 04/18/13 03:07 PM
Re: Many feared dead in large explosion in Texas
[Re: EMPnotImplyNuclear]
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Addict
Registered: 01/09/09
Posts: 631
Loc: Calgary, AB
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That report makes an interesting note about risk management: "Separately, the plant had informed the Environmental Protection Agency that it presented no risk of fire or explosion, according to The Dallas Morning News. It did so in an emergency planning report required of facilities that use toxic or hazardous chemicals.
The plant's report to the EPA said even a worst-case scenario wouldn't be that dire: there would be a 10-minute release of ammonia gas that wouldn't kill or injure anyone, the newspaper reported."I wonder if a better risk assessment & mitigation plans could have made a difference.
_________________________
Victory awaits him who has everything in order — luck, people call it. Defeat is certain for him who has neglected to take the necessary precautions in time; this is called bad luck. Roald Amundsen
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#259342 - 04/18/13 08:33 PM
Re: Many feared dead in large explosion in Texas
[Re: ]
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Stranger
Registered: 02/01/10
Posts: 9
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I,m surprised why the plant, being that close to the town was not required to have blast burms installed around the perimeter like they often require around ammo dumps and fire works site. it seems this simple precaution could have averted lots of this damage by directing the blast more upward.
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#259347 - 04/18/13 11:00 PM
Re: Many feared dead in large explosion in Texas
[Re: darin]
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Geezer in Chief
Geezer
Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
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The news this morning made me recall the Teas City disaster, which was the detonation of a ship load of ammonium nitrate - 66 years and one day ago.
_________________________
Geezer in Chief
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#259360 - 04/19/13 01:27 AM
Re: Many feared dead in large explosion in Texas
[Re: adam2]
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Veteran
Registered: 11/01/08
Posts: 1530
Loc: DFW, Texas
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I live approx. 60 miles north as the crow flies. We distinctly heard the blast.
_________________________
I do the things that I must, and really regret, are unfortunately necessary.
RIP OBG
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#259363 - 04/19/13 01:40 AM
Re: Many feared dead in large explosion in Texas
[Re: James_Van_Artsdalen]
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INTERCEPTOR
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 07/15/02
Posts: 3760
Loc: TX
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This is why you don't hang out and watch an industrial fire. You run away as far and as fast as you can! -Blast
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#259367 - 04/19/13 02:20 AM
Re: Many feared dead in large explosion in Texas
[Re: adam2]
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Addict
Registered: 09/13/07
Posts: 449
Loc: Texas
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In the Texas City explosion the 5 ton ship's anchor was blown through the air about 1/2 mile.
Notice in the video that the shock wave was apparently still supersonic when it got to him. He's lucky it didn't carry some debris at bullet speeds.
Apparently the firefighters who responded the the fire before the explosion all died, apparently staying in the blast zone to warn people to get out. The plan owners have much to answer for.
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#259370 - 04/19/13 02:31 AM
Re: Many feared dead in large explosion in Texas
[Re: darin]
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Addict
Registered: 09/13/07
Posts: 449
Loc: Texas
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I,m surprised why the plant, being that close to the town was not required to have blast burms installed around the perimeter like they often require around ammo dumps and fire works site. Unfortunately these explosions will throw a lot of hot burning debris over any berm. After the Texas City explosion responders had trouble even entering the area because of the fires and debris thrown many miles around the epicenter. Land is cheap there and a buffer zone should have been bought. Along with a plan that didn't expect 3 volunteer firefighters to show up to deal with that fire.
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#259528 - 04/20/13 04:23 PM
Re: Many feared dead in large explosion in Texas
[Re: adam2]
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Pooh-Bah
Registered: 09/15/05
Posts: 2485
Loc: California
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Not being from a rural or small town, I've been wondering how you could end up with a really big bomb in the heart of your town. This article, Why did West, Texas, build homes and a school next to a 'time bomb'? tries to go into that question. ...like most West residents, Kucera exhibited no animosity or anger toward the plant owner or town officials who allowed construction so close to an explosives storage site.
Instead, he saw the danger as a natural tradeoff of rural farming existence, where danger is always a factor amid killer tornadoes, whirring threshers, pipelines and gas storage facilities necessary to survive on America's rural fringe. In the case of the West Fertilizer Plant, its very products boosted the fertility of both crops and the economy.
"That plant was part of our town and what happened is part of living in a farming town," Kucera says. "You accept a certain level of risk, just as people living in cities do." Sounds very similar to something I just read about the horrible pollution and environmental damage in many parts of China. The residents are not blind to the risk or where it's coming from, but it's something they accept as a cost of economic development.
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#259718 - 04/22/13 08:13 PM
Re: Many feared dead in large explosion in Texas
[Re: James_Van_Artsdalen]
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Stranger
Registered: 02/01/10
Posts: 9
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I'm well aware that burning debis would fly over any burm, how ever at least the blast would not have decapitated the second floor of the near by apt building. I'll take exscape from a burning building anyday over trying to dig out of a colapsed one.
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#259721 - 04/22/13 10:45 PM
Re: Many feared dead in large explosion in Texas
[Re: adam2]
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Enthusiast
Registered: 08/03/12
Posts: 264
Loc: Missouri
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I read, somewhere, that the plant was built well outside the town and developers built homes, schools etc. as the town expanded. I've driven through West many times. Used to be best known for it's Czech bakery.
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#259748 - 04/23/13 05:19 AM
Re: Many feared dead in large explosion in Texas
[Re: adam2]
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 04/28/10
Posts: 3164
Loc: Big Sky Country
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The Boston bombing grabbed all the headlines but the Texas explosion is far scarier. From what I've read, there were several hundred tons of amonium nitrate that was undeclared, while you're supposed to notify if there's more than (iirc) 400 lbs. Apparently compliance is voluntary, or at least there's little by way of enforcement. Laws were flouted and many are dead. There could be dozens, maybe hundreds, of similar situations right under our noses all over the country.
_________________________
“I'd rather have questions that cannot be answered than answers that can't be questioned.” —Richard Feynman
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#259752 - 04/23/13 06:32 AM
Re: Many feared dead in large explosion in Texas
[Re: Blast]
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Sheriff
Pooh-Bah
Registered: 10/12/07
Posts: 1804
Loc: Southern California
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This is why you don't hang out and watch an industrial fire. You run away as far and as fast as you can!
-Blast Definitely something to bear in mind. Yipes. HJ
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