West, TX Explosion

exalted512
exalted512 Posts: 10,735
edited April 2013 in The Clubhouse
Prayers sent to the families affected by this

http://www.kens5.com/news/Powerful-explosion-rocks-small-town-near-Waco-multiple-injuries-reported-203510211.html

Video of the explosion. It's not graphic, but it might not be for the light hearted
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151442582274601
-Cody
Music is like candy, you have to get rid of the rappers to enjoy it
Post edited by exalted512 on

Comments

  • exalted512
    exalted512 Posts: 10,735
    edited April 2013
    A guy's wife off another forum has been on the scene from Dallas. He said "In the beginning of the fire, 5 volunteer firemen were fighting the fire. Then the plant exploded. The only thing found from those firemen has been a door from their firetruck. They are believed to have been disintegrated in the blast. Very sad."

    Unbelievable.
    -Cody
    Music is like candy, you have to get rid of the rappers to enjoy it
  • AsSiMiLaTeD
    AsSiMiLaTeD Posts: 11,722
    edited April 2013
    Very sad. We stop in that town every time we head down to San Antonio, it's one of my favorite places.

    Also, who decided it was a good idea to build a fertilizer plant so close to a residential area? I realize that **** happens and these things don't frequently blow up, but seriously we've got plenty of land here in Texas...just build that thing a few miles outside of town. If it's the other way around and they built houses close to the plant then that's equally questionable. I realize that in cities it's hard to NOT have residential and industrial right next to each other, but there is LOTS of land in that part of the state so I don't get building them so close together. This isn't a doll factory or a bakery that exploded, it's a fertilizer plant and it's common knowledge that this stuff poses a higher risk than, say, making chocolate.
  • bmbguy
    bmbguy Posts: 416
    edited April 2013
    Sad indeed. A wife's friend has family that lived near the plant -- they saw the fire and evacuated. Their house was flattened.

    Sad if accidental -- even sadder if intentional.

    Not as high-profile as Boston, but probably worse.
  • rooftop59
    rooftop59 Posts: 7,952
    edited April 2013
    About 20 miles form my house. Didn't feel it here, but my goodness what a tragedy. As of right now they are saying that they have enough blood, but shelter is going to be a real need. A 50 unit apartment complex was leveled. Just really sad...
    Living Room 2.2: Usher BE-718 "tiny dancers"; Dual DIY Dayton audio RSS210HF-4 Subs with Dayton SPA-250 amps; Arcam SA30; Musical Fidelity A308; Sony UBP-x1000es; Squeezebox Touch with Bolder Power Supply
    Game Room 5.1.4:
    Denon AVR-X4200w; Sony UBP-x700; Definitive Technology Power Monitor 900 mains, CLR-3000 center, StudioMonitor 350 surrounds, ProMonitor 800 atmos x4; Sub - Monoprice Monolith 15in THX Ultra

    Bedroom 2.1
    Cambridge Azur 551r; Polk RT25i; ACI Titan Subwoofer
  • hosedagain
    hosedagain Posts: 116
    edited April 2013
    Very sad. We stop in that town every time we head down to San Antonio, it's one of my favorite places.

    Also, who decided it was a good idea to build a fertilizer plant so close to a residential area? I realize that **** happens and these things don't frequently blow up, but seriously we've got plenty of land here in Texas...just build that thing a few miles outside of town. If it's the other way around and they built houses close to the plant then that's equally questionable. I realize that in cities it's hard to NOT have residential and industrial right next to each other, but there is LOTS of land in that part of the state so I don't get building them so close together. This isn't a doll factory or a bakery that exploded, it's a fertilizer plant and it's common knowledge that this stuff poses a higher risk than, say, making chocolate.


    Would have to agree with you, why build so close to a potential fire-explosion plant? greed? poor planing? no fore sight or no common sense. In a city close to me in the middle of a residential area there was a propane storage transfer station, one day it blew up, burned and the damage was extensive to the houses. The question everybody was asking why was that transfer station located there? don't remember who was there first the plant or homes. Same argument about the house that were flooded with oil by a ruptured oil pipeline that were built so close to the pipeline. just saying
  • ZLTFUL
    ZLTFUL Posts: 5,640
    edited April 2013
    The same argument can be made for building near any plant that produces fine particle dust.
    Grain elevators, flour and sugar plants...heck even chocolate powder or coffee creamer can be explosive if airborne ignition occurs.

    Granted, the byproducts of most fertilizers are incrementally more explosive but until you have seen a grain dust explosion, don't underestimate it.

    Sugar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg7mLSG-Yws&playnext=1&list=PL22708253FDCC9067

    Creamer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRw4ZRqmxOc&list=PL22708253FDCC9067

    Saw dust: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvPL7KC1DEA
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPIZ5Movuiw

    Grain dust: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgQhwC_9LHo
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bM4GW7z0Xz8
    "Some people find it easier to be conceited rather than correct."

    "Unwad those panties and have a good time man. We're all here to help each other, no matter how it might appear." DSkip
  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,902
    edited April 2013
    Have to agree on the placement of such so close to residential, schools, Nursing homes. Why on earth would village planners allow the risk ? Not like Texas is cramped for room. Somebody down there needs to get their collective heads out of their arses.
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
  • SDA1C
    SDA1C Posts: 2,069
    edited April 2013
    ZLTFUL wrote: »
    The same argument can be made for building near any plant that produces fine particle dust.
    Grain elevators, flour and sugar plants...heck even chocolate powder or coffee creamer can be explosive if airborne ignition occurs.

    Granted, the byproducts of most fertilizers are incrementally more explosive but until you have seen a grain dust explosion, don't underestimate it.

    Sugar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg7mLSG-Yws&playnext=1&list=PL22708253FDCC9067

    Creamer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRw4ZRqmxOc&list=PL22708253FDCC9067

    Saw dust: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvPL7KC1DEA
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPIZ5Movuiw

    Grain dust: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgQhwC_9LHo
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bM4GW7z0Xz8

    You are exactly right. I was part of a restoration of a plant that sent concrete for 3 miles.

    http://labs.lib.ksu.edu/dlib/grainElevator/Thumbnails/Council%20Bluffs%201982/index.shtml

    The current supervisor of the plant is a survivor of the explosion. Believe me, there are no words.
    Too much **** to list....
  • hosedagain
    hosedagain Posts: 116
    edited April 2013
    ZLTFUL wrote: »
    The same argument can be made for building near any plant that produces fine particle dust.
    Grain elevators, flour and sugar plants...heck even chocolate powder or coffee creamer can be explosive if airborne ignition occurs.

    Granted, the byproducts of most fertilizers are incrementally more explosive but until you have seen a grain dust explosion, don't underestimate it.

    Sugar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg7mLSG-Yws&playnext=1&list=PL22708253FDCC9067

    Creamer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRw4ZRqmxOc&list=PL22708253FDCC9067

    Saw dust: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvPL7KC1DEA
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPIZ5Movuiw

    Grain dust: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgQhwC_9LHo
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bM4GW7z0Xz8

    None of the videos show any residential homes etc close to the sugar refinery and grain silo. the other videos are controlled and forced demos.
  • JSPAudio
    JSPAudio Posts: 6
    edited April 2013
    Sending many thoughts and prayers to a great little Czech community.
  • SDA1C
    SDA1C Posts: 2,069
    edited April 2013
    hosedagain wrote: »
    None of the videos show any residential homes etc close to the sugar refinery and grain silo. the other videos are controlled and forced demos.

    Do you even know where FT Wentworth is? Not close to what? I-25 goes right through the residential. There are houses in the back ground at 1:09 of the first vid.
    Too much **** to list....
  • hosedagain
    hosedagain Posts: 116
    edited April 2013
    SDA1C wrote: »
    Do you even know where FT Wentworth is? Not close to what? I-25 goes right through the residential. There are houses in the back ground at 1:09 of the first vid.

    ops sorry I missed it, thanks for pointing it out, meant to say in my post "I didn't notice any homes" So what if I don't know where Ft Wentworth is?
  • hosedagain
    hosedagain Posts: 116
    edited April 2013
    SDA1C wrote: »
    Do you even know where FT Wentworth is? Not close to what? I-25 goes right through the residential. There are houses in the back ground at 1:09 of the first vid.

    ops sorry I missed it, thanks for pointing it out, meant to say in my post "I didn't notice any homes" So what if I don't know where Ft Wentworth is?

    Maybe its Pt Wentworth not FT Wentworth, do a Google earth and see how far those houses are,
  • ZLTFUL
    ZLTFUL Posts: 5,640
    edited April 2013
    Go to ANY farm town in Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Dakotas, Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Missouri and take a look around.
    Houses built right next store to megalithic grain elevators. Every single one with the potential to release an explosion that could level a good portion of those towns.

    I was interviewing for a job in NW Iowa last fall in the middle of harvest time. The corn and soybean dust was so thick that it looked like fog. One errant spark would have caused an inferno that would have wiped the "tiny" town of 3500 people off the map.

    My point was that anything that produces dust, even if the material tends to not be considered dangerous as an explosive, has the potential to cause massive explosions and fires.
    The other point was that it is a calculated risk in every instance. You build a grain elevator in the middle of a town because it is usually the center of a county. There are usually rail lines that go through and other resources are centralized in that area. You build it knowing the risks but take precautions to minimize them.

    Take a look at the El Dorado, Kansas oil refinery and tell me that isn't a disaster waiting to happen.

    Your *argument* that the other demonstrations are forced and controlled is moot. The potential for disaster is there. Those were examples of how explosive things like saw dust, coffee creamer, grain dust, et all can be.
    Dust explosions require 4 catalysts.
    1. Fuel (dust)
    2. Oxygen (last I check, there was oxygen in air and air is everywhere within the atmosphere...)
    3. Ignition source (it only takes one static spark)
    4. Confined space (most of these dust creating products are stored in them)

    Another one is chemical fires...
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqCNuwJyyHM
    This happened in the city I live in. The plant is surrounded by office buildings, warehousing and production facilities.

    Sometimes, you don't even need anything but air to cause an explosion. Backdraft explosions happen quite frequently in residential fires...
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FJT2QU-xgM

    Accidents happen. They suck. But consider how many potentially explosive facilities reside in areas where accidents like this could happen every day but don't.
    It's purely luck of the draw. Conditions have to be exactly right for something like this explosion to occur. And those chances were deemed well within the acceptable risk levels set forth by which ever governing body granted the building permits.
    "Some people find it easier to be conceited rather than correct."

    "Unwad those panties and have a good time man. We're all here to help each other, no matter how it might appear." DSkip
  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,256
    edited April 2013
  • NJPOLKER
    NJPOLKER Posts: 3,474
    edited April 2013
    Our prayers and best wishes are with you all.

    God Bless America
  • jbooker82
    jbooker82 Posts: 1,627
    edited April 2013
    I would be curiouse to know wich was there first. The plant could have been outside of town and the town just kept creeping closer.
    AVR: Onkyo Tx-NR808
    Amplifier: Carver A-753x 250 watts x 3
    Fronts: Polk RTI A7 (modded by Trey VR3)
    Center: CSI A4 (modded by Trey VR3)
    Rear: FXI A4
    Sub: Polk DSW Pro 660wi
    TV: LG Infinia 50PX950 3D
    Speaker Cable: AudioQuest Type 8
    IC: AudioQuest Black Mamba II
  • SDA1C
    SDA1C Posts: 2,069
    edited April 2013
    hosedagain wrote: »
    ops sorry I missed it, thanks for pointing it out, meant to say in my post "I didn't notice any homes" So what if I don't know where Ft Wentworth is?

    Maybe its Pt Wentworth not FT Wentworth, do a Google earth and see how far those houses are,

    HAHA You'er funny. It's FT Wentworth. If you did a search yourself you might learn something. Then again...you might not.
    Too much **** to list....
  • hosedagain
    hosedagain Posts: 116
    edited April 2013
    SDA1C wrote: »
    HAHA You'er funny. It's FT Wentworth. If you did a search yourself you might learn something. Then again...you might not.

    OK truce, what does the "FT" stand for? Fort?
  • exalted512
    exalted512 Posts: 10,735
    edited April 2013
    SDA1C wrote: »
    HAHA You'er funny. It's FT Wentworth. If you did a search yourself you might learn something. Then again...you might not.

    Have some respect and take this somewhere else. A bunch of people lost their lives and you're arguing over the spelling of a town.
    -Cody
    Music is like candy, you have to get rid of the rappers to enjoy it