Lana Ferguson
The Dallas Morning News
(TNS)
Monday marks 10 years since 15 people were killed and about 200 others were injured in a major explosion at a fertilizer plant in West that shook the community and state.
Local firefighters were working to put out a blaze at West Fertilizer Co. the evening of April 17, 2013, when the destructive explosion occurred.
It’s believed ammonium nitrate — a common fertilizer used by farmers that becomes explosive in certain conditions — stored in the same room as the fire triggered the reaction. There were 40 to 60 tons of the chemical at the plant when it exploded, according to previous reporting.
West is a small farming community, just north of Waco, located about 80 miles south of Dallas. Its population was roughly 2,600 at the time of the explosion.
The plant was owned by local couple Don and Wanda Adair, who purchased West Fertilizer Co. in 2004 when the previous owners were about to let it go out of business. Friends previously told The Dallas Morning News that Don Adair bought the plant as a favor to area farmers, including himself, so they wouldn’t have to drive to Waco or Hillsboro to purchase fertilizer and other supplies.
Twelve of the 15 people who died were first responders, including 10 firefighters.
According to reports, less than 12 minutes passed from when the first fire truck arrived on scene and the explosion.
Al Vanek, who was a West City Council member at the time, had said a four-block area around the explosion’s epicenter was “totally decimated.” Others who witnessed the scene compared it to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
Several nearby buildings caught fire, were blown apart or collapsed, including a nursing home, the local middle school and hundreds of homes. It’s estimated there was more than $100 million in property damage.
The explosion, which was reportedly heard as far as 45 miles away in Waxahachie, left a 93-foot-wide, 10-foot-deep crater in its place. The blast generated enough force to register like a magnitude 2.1 earthquake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
After a months-long probe, which investigators say involved 20,000 man hours looking through debris and interviewing more than 400 people, authorities said there were three possible sources of the fire that ignited the explosion: arson, a golf cart with a battery that may have overheated, or the plant’s 120-volt electrical system.
In 2016, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives determined the explosion occurred after someone intentionally lit a fire in the building. To date, no one has been charged in the crime.
President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency, which allowed federal entities to aid the relief efforts. He also said the town wouldn’t be forgotten, a nod to the fact that the explosion occurred two days after the deadly Boston Marathon bombing.
Pope Francis tweeted: “Please join me in praying for the victims of the explosion in Texas and their families.”
In the years since the explosion, there has been legislation creating new regulations for ammonium nitrate.
There have also been many lawsuits brought by people and entities in West were settled against defendants that either manufactured or sold fertilizer. The city of West was awarded $10.4 million in a settlement with multiple companies it claimed were negligent in selling or distributing the chemical at the plant.
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