Federal and state investigators were combing through the West Fertilizer plant site in West, Texas, last week to determine what caused the fire and massive explosion there on April 17. The devastating blast claimed 15 lives, injured more than 200, and destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes in a 37-block residential area of the small Texas town.
Officials on April 23 said they believed they had recovered all the bodies, capping the death toll at 15. Authorities confirmed that 10 of the victims were firefighters and two more were first responders. A memorial service, attended by President Obama, was held April 25 at Baylor University in Waco.
Authorities also revealed on April 23 that lightning had been ruled out as a cause of the fire and blast, and that a railcar loaded with ammonium nitrate that was present at the site had not been part of the explosion. The force of the explosion, which registered as a 2.1-magnitute earthquake and left a crater 93 feet wide and 10 feet deep, knocked the railcar off the spur and on its side, but both the car and its contents were intact after the blast.
Investigators also determined that the explosion originated from one of two storage buildings on the site, both of which were leveled in the blast. The plant itself consisted of approximately 11 structures on 10 acres, including several anhydrous ammonia tanks that were largely intact after the blast. The ammonia tanks have also been ruled out as a cause of the explosion.
Other details were also released, including the dispatcher log, which shows the fire was first reported at 7:33 p.m., and that first responders were on the scene at 7:35. “There’s heavy smoke coming out of one of the buildings behind the fertilizer, one of the grains here,” was the first on-site dispatch from a police officer at 7:35 pm. Just one minute later, that responder was asking for an emergency contact with West Fertilizer.
The first fire truck arrived six minutes after the initial call, and almost immediately requested mutual aid from another fire department. “This is fully involved, big time,” was the 7:40 dispatch. At 7:48, the plant manager for West Fertilizer was on the scene. The last transmission before the explosion comes at 7:51 p.m., when the West Fire Department refers to “73,000 gallons of water.”
The next transmission comes minutes later from a panicked firefighter after the blast. “We need every ambulance we can get this way,” the firefighter says. “A bomb just went off inside here. It’s pretty bad. We’ve got a lot of firemen down.”
Investigators are still trying to determine what caused that powerful explosion, and which of the structures initially caught fire. There were many other unanswered questions as well, including whether the fire was accidental or intentional, and whether lax enforcement of state and federal regulations or negligence on the part of West Fertilizer contributed to the tragedy.
Some 70 state and federal investigators were on the scene last week, with the State Fire Marshal and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives acting as the lead agencies. The Chemical Safety Board (CSB) will also investigate, but was not yet at the site until the ATF completes its initial investigation.
West Fertilizer is owned by 83-year-old Donald R. Adair, a lifelong resident of West, who also owns Adair Grain Inc. at the same location. Adair bought the retail facility in 2004, but the business has been in operation in West since 1962. During those 50-plus years of operation, the town of West grew around and in close proximity to the fertilizer plant. Among the many structures damaged in the explosion were an apartment complex, a nursing home, and West Middle School.
Adair released a statement on April 19 in which he expressed “heartfelt sympathy for those affected and