Investigators fault community planning in deadly 2013 Texas explosion
Source: Yahoo! News / Reuters
(Reuters) - An explosion at the West Fertilizer Co of West, Texas on April 17, 2013 that killed 15 people and damaged 150 buildings likely happened because the owner of the fertilizer storage facility kept combustible material near a 30-ton pile of ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer also used to make explosives, according to a report released by the federal Chemical Safety Board on Monday.
The blast was especially deadly because the first responders who gathered to fight a fire at the at the company had not trained for an emergency at the facility and likely did not know the ammonium nitrate could explode, the report said. Twelve of the 15 killed were firefighters and other first responders.
The boards investigators also faulted community planning that allowed the town to grow up around the facility, exacerbating the damage.
The blast destroyed a high school, an apartment complex and a nursing home.
Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/investigators-fault-community-planning-deadly-2013-texas-explosion-222405387--finance.html
UpInArms
(51,280 posts)Say it isn't so!!!!
Fortinbras Armstrong
(4,473 posts)Which simply shows once more why libertarianism is crap.
safeinOhio
(32,641 posts)Human101948
(3,457 posts)According to an open records request by Reuters, the plant had a long history of minor thefts, presumably by people wanting to use anhydrous ammonia to make methamphetamine. The facility lacked burglar alarms or even a fenced perimeter.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Fertilizer_Company_explosion
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)Tho I find it hard to think they did not know ammonium nitrate could explode--it is a bomb ingredient, is it not?
exboyfil
(17,862 posts)facilities, and there is a huge warehouse/transportation facility in Rock Island, IL. A daycare was within 1/2 mile of the facility if I remember correctly. Also schools, apartments, houses etc.
The interesting thing is that I posted this on Facebook at the time, and it has disappeared from my timeline. I am not a sophisticated Facebook user, but I have to wonder if it was purged by some entity.
http://qctimes.com/news/local/ask-the-times/new-fertilizer-facility-towers-over-rock-island-river/article_c81c86fc-27ea-5562-b06b-a0d4e13c09fa.html
jmowreader
(50,530 posts)muriel_volestrangler
(101,271 posts)It was Donald Adair who owned the facility that blew up, and kept the explosive substances near the combustible material. The firefighters would have been killed if the town hadn't been near - they would have turned up to fight the fire with or without a town there. And it's his fault they didn't know he'd been so lax with storage.
Here's the report: https://app.box.com/s/rjv7aphsoyuke381ysjj81jkbeemp696
It blames a bad site design (no fire detection or sprinkler system either), OSHA, the business's insurers (a previous insurer had stopped coverage, because the owner didn't carry out the safety measures they wanted), no requirement for the fire dept to train to handle an incident, and then, yes, community planning for allowing residential building near the site.
blackspade
(10,056 posts)Thousands.
To blame this on 'community planning' is a crock of shit considering land use policies dating back to the late 1800s specifically designed residential communities in close conjunction with industrial facilities.