Injuries Reported After Large Blast Rocks Facility in Texas
A large explosion at a fertilizer plant in a small town North of Waco, Texas has rocked a community and injured many Texas workers, including many first responders trying to help those that are injured. Information, currently, is still coming out, but it appears that some condition at the plant caused an explosion that has injured over 100 people. This explosion happened in West, Texas and many buildings are still engulfed in flames.
As workers wake up and head to work tomorrow, they assume they will come home safe and without injuries to their family. Over the past 200 years of American history, the government, workers, unions, and employers have worked hard to make this assumption a reality. However, on occasions, tragedy strikes and workers, and their families, are forever changed for the worse due to lapses in safety that injured, kill, maim, and alter the lives of workers forever. This explosion in West, Texas, outside of Waco, is another reminder that worker and worksite safety should be paramount. As information becomes available, we will transmit to the readers of Hill Law Firm’s Blog.
What follows is a rundown on what we know so far:
We know that a large explosion rocked the town of West, Texas Wednesday evening at about 8 p.m., causing a large portion of the small town of 2,800 to have been severely damaged. The source of the blast was the West Fertilizer plant, which is located near the center of town, about a half-mile east of Interstate 35. Witnesses reported a large shock wave, Â which was felt as much as a mile away from the plant, although some reported what felt like a small earthquake from as far away as 50 miles.
Based on initial reports, nearly every home and business within a four block radius of the plant was severely damaged. The Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed multiple injuries, although no accurate count was available. In the town, at least 10 structures are burning, including a school located next door to the plant, which caught fire, and a nursing home. Other reports say that fire officials were able to put out most of the fires relatively quickly.
The West High School football field was set up as an emergency triage center, where nine medical helicopters delivered injured victims. At about 10 p.m., a dispatcher asked emergency personnel to move away from the plant out of concern about the chemicals inside. Residents of the nearby nursing home that was damaged were also taken to the football field and a nearby gymnastics building.
All West residents were asked to evacuate, and the town was virtually shut down soon after the explosion. Teams from American Red Cross centers in Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin provided assistance to West and Waco emergency officials, and were searching for a location to set up a shelter for evacuees. Drivers in the area were advised to choose alternate routes, so that the stream of emergency vehicles, including ambulances, sheriff’s deputies, and other emergency vehicles, could make it through to the area.
As news becomes available, the Hill Law Firm Blog will report as much as is possible to the readers of this blog. Further, if you or a loved one was in this tragic plant when it exploded, seek medical care and attention as soon as possible. It is extremely important that anyone injured seek medical attention now. Further, if you have information related to this explosion, record it or report it to the authorities as soon as possible. Finally, if you have questions regarding your legal rights, contact the experienced Texas Explosion Injury Lawyer at Hill Law Firm today.