Major Explosion, Multiple Buildings On Fire, Mass Casualty incident

[JetPhoto 626]

Date: 4/17/13
Time: 7:50 p.m. (8:50 p.m. ET)
District: West Texas
Location: 1471 Jerry Mashek Dr
Units: multiple
Weather Conditions: Dark
Reporters: JETPHOTO

News Story: http://www.kvue.com/news/Explosion-at-fertilizer-plant-in-West-203508641.html

This one has some good pictures on the twitter feed

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20130417-breaking-news-explosion-injuries-reported-at-fertilizer-plant-near-waco-in-west-texas.ece

Live Audio: http://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/2663

Edited April 18, 2013 by JetPhoto

[peterose313 345]

I just saw a report a total of 15 medevacs have landed. The high school football field is being used as triage and every home in a 4 block area is gone.

http://www.wfaa.com/video?id=139367478&sec=553117 live stream

Edited April 18, 2013 by peterose313

[JetPhoto 626]

The town is West Texas north of Waco

[peterose313 345]

Triage is being moved to the community center due to an anhydrous ammonia tank burning. The community center is about 6 blocks from the scene.

Dr. George Smith, Director of West EMS believes casualties are at 60-70 with hundreds injured.

Edited April 18, 2013 by peterose313

[Disaster_Guy 96]

CNN reporting: Dr. Gorge Smith Director of West EMS believes that there are 60 to 70 dead and hundreds injured. One policeman and five firefighters have been reported dead. The entire city of West is being evacuated due to fear of a second explosion.

West, TX is 20 miles North of Waco, TX.

[peterose313 345]

Amateur video of the explosion.

[JetPhoto 626]

Here is the original video of the explosion

listen to the daughter after the explosion

Those that have fallen from this incident Rest in Peace

[TXCHIEF 9]

Unfortunately, several emergency responders and West residents have died as a result from the West plant explosion earlier this evening. As this time, there is an evacuation zone around the plant. 15+ medical helicopters have been called from all over Texas, including all CareFlite helicopters, as well as additional units from Fort Hood (about 40 miles south). The state has mobilized to assist and coordinate mutual aid resources and personnel. Severly injured are being flown to trauma centers south (Austin and Temple) and North to Dallas and Fort Worth

[firemoose827 324]

Rest In Peace...

Prayers for all involved in this nightmare...

[x635 4,066]

Wow. Hits close to home.

I know exactly where West is, and lived aout an hour south of it in Austin. VERY small rural Texas town.

To add to what TXCHIEF said,

For geographical context, People often confuse (and now the media) West (name of the town in Central Texas where this happened), with "West Texas",which is NOT the region where this occured. It's about a 1/2 hour from Fort Hood, 2 hours south of Dallas/Fort Worth, and about an hour 1/2 north of Austin. I-35, which runs from Mexico to the Candian Border, and is a major interstate, runs through West. Many people stop there along the way for the "Czech Stop" a Czech bakery. The town is known most locally for "WestFest", a festival celebrating the towns Czech geritage.

The EMS service and hospital I worked for down there provided EMS to a portion of Mclennan County, and sent numerous resources to this incident. Mclennan Community College has a strong Paramedic program. West has one of the stonger EMS systems in the area. My mom actually works at the hospital where most of the critical patients (several children) were transferred to (Scott and White Level I Trauma Center). Two other hospitals recieving critical patients was Scott And White Hillcrest in a Waco and Parkland Hospital in Dallas, which has a world renowed burn center (the Parkland formula), also known for the hospital JFK was taken to. Seton Brackenridge and St Davis Austin also recieved pts. I have heard that some other hosptials in San Antonio and Fort Hood also recieved pts, but cannot confirm.

On a side note, the "Waco" incident occured on April 19th, 1993. Waco, the largest "city" in the are besides Temple, is home to Baylor University.

Thoughts and Prayers.

[38ff 250]

I've been to West TX a few times, when they had their BBQ cookoffs years ago. Typical Central Texas town. They will rebuild.