The Stig
08-03-2013, 12:16 AM
You may remember the fertilizer plant explosion back in April.
On April 17, 2013, an ammonium nitrate explosion occurred at the West Fertilizer Company storage and distribution facility in West, Texas, 18 miles (29 km) north of Waco while emergency services personnel were responding to a fire at the facility.[6] At least 15 people were killed, more than 160 were injured and more than 150 buildings were damaged or destroyed. Investigators have confirmed that ammonium nitrate was the trigger for the explosion, but the cause of the initial fire is as yet unknown.[7]
From WIKI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Fertilizer_Company_explosion)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/West_Explosion_Aerial.jpg/800px-West_Explosion_Aerial.jpg
I was in Texas last week and we took a quick side-tour to drive through this area. Damaged houses, windows covered in plywood, dot the countryside for a good half to mile from the explosion site.
I was standing just on the other side of the railroad tracks shown at the very top of the picture above. There's still random strewn rubble and just....stuff....laying around.
In reading up on the story I found another WIKI entry HERE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonium_nitrate_disasters) that details other explosions.....
Mexico Monclova, Coahuila September 10, 2007 40 On September 10, 2007, near Monclova, Coahuila, México, a trailer loaded with 22 tons of ammonium nitrate crashed into a truck leaving three dead in the crash. A fire then started in the trailer's cabin and approximately 40 minutes after that, a huge explosion occurred, resulting in around 150 people injured and 37 more dead. A crater 30 ft (9.1 m) wide and 6 ft (1.8 m) deep was created due to the explosion.[19]
Romania Mihăileşti, Buzău May 24, 2004 18 Mihăileşti explosion: A truck carrying 20 tones of ammonium nitrate tipped over on the European road E85 near Mihăileşti at 4:57 am on May 24, 2004. Shortly afterwards, a fire started in the cabin. Two reporters got to the site of the accident and started filming while firemen were trying to stop the fire. Around 5:50 am the truck exploded, killing 18 and wounding 13 people. A crater 6.5 meters deep and 42 meters in diameter was formed by the explosion.
North Korea Ryongchŏn April 22, 2004 162 Ryongchon disaster: A freight train carrying ammonium nitrate exploded in this important railway town near the Chinese border on April 22, 2004, killing 162 people and injuring over 3,000 others. The train station was destroyed, as were most buildings within 500 metres, and nearly 8,000 homes were destroyed or damaged. Two craters of about ten metres in depth were seen at the site of the explosion. The authorities blamed "human error" for the explosion, although rumours persist that it was in fact an attempt to assassinate the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, who was due to be passing through the station at the time.
France Toulouse September 21, 2001 31 AZF: On September 21, 2001, at 10:15 am, in the AZF (Azote de France) fertiliser factory in Toulouse, France, an explosion occurred in a warehouse where the off-specification granular AN was stored flat, separated by partitions. About 200–300 tons is said to be involved in the explosion, resulting in 31 people dead and 2,442 injured, 34 of them seriously. The blast wave shattered windows up to 3 kilometres away, and the resulting crater was 10 metres deep and 50 metres wide. The exact cause remains unknown. The material damage was estimated at 2.3 billion euros. France's Environment Minister concluded the explosion "may have been a terrorist attack" as it was soon after the September 11 attacks and linked to worker with militant views.
These were just some of the gaudier ones. If you go to that webpage you'll see there's been a string of industrial accidents involving ammonium nitrate explosions over the years here in the US of A.
Sooooo.......
Got any fertilizer facilities, plants or large scale storage near you?
On April 17, 2013, an ammonium nitrate explosion occurred at the West Fertilizer Company storage and distribution facility in West, Texas, 18 miles (29 km) north of Waco while emergency services personnel were responding to a fire at the facility.[6] At least 15 people were killed, more than 160 were injured and more than 150 buildings were damaged or destroyed. Investigators have confirmed that ammonium nitrate was the trigger for the explosion, but the cause of the initial fire is as yet unknown.[7]
From WIKI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Fertilizer_Company_explosion)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/West_Explosion_Aerial.jpg/800px-West_Explosion_Aerial.jpg
I was in Texas last week and we took a quick side-tour to drive through this area. Damaged houses, windows covered in plywood, dot the countryside for a good half to mile from the explosion site.
I was standing just on the other side of the railroad tracks shown at the very top of the picture above. There's still random strewn rubble and just....stuff....laying around.
In reading up on the story I found another WIKI entry HERE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonium_nitrate_disasters) that details other explosions.....
Mexico Monclova, Coahuila September 10, 2007 40 On September 10, 2007, near Monclova, Coahuila, México, a trailer loaded with 22 tons of ammonium nitrate crashed into a truck leaving three dead in the crash. A fire then started in the trailer's cabin and approximately 40 minutes after that, a huge explosion occurred, resulting in around 150 people injured and 37 more dead. A crater 30 ft (9.1 m) wide and 6 ft (1.8 m) deep was created due to the explosion.[19]
Romania Mihăileşti, Buzău May 24, 2004 18 Mihăileşti explosion: A truck carrying 20 tones of ammonium nitrate tipped over on the European road E85 near Mihăileşti at 4:57 am on May 24, 2004. Shortly afterwards, a fire started in the cabin. Two reporters got to the site of the accident and started filming while firemen were trying to stop the fire. Around 5:50 am the truck exploded, killing 18 and wounding 13 people. A crater 6.5 meters deep and 42 meters in diameter was formed by the explosion.
North Korea Ryongchŏn April 22, 2004 162 Ryongchon disaster: A freight train carrying ammonium nitrate exploded in this important railway town near the Chinese border on April 22, 2004, killing 162 people and injuring over 3,000 others. The train station was destroyed, as were most buildings within 500 metres, and nearly 8,000 homes were destroyed or damaged. Two craters of about ten metres in depth were seen at the site of the explosion. The authorities blamed "human error" for the explosion, although rumours persist that it was in fact an attempt to assassinate the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, who was due to be passing through the station at the time.
France Toulouse September 21, 2001 31 AZF: On September 21, 2001, at 10:15 am, in the AZF (Azote de France) fertiliser factory in Toulouse, France, an explosion occurred in a warehouse where the off-specification granular AN was stored flat, separated by partitions. About 200–300 tons is said to be involved in the explosion, resulting in 31 people dead and 2,442 injured, 34 of them seriously. The blast wave shattered windows up to 3 kilometres away, and the resulting crater was 10 metres deep and 50 metres wide. The exact cause remains unknown. The material damage was estimated at 2.3 billion euros. France's Environment Minister concluded the explosion "may have been a terrorist attack" as it was soon after the September 11 attacks and linked to worker with militant views.
These were just some of the gaudier ones. If you go to that webpage you'll see there's been a string of industrial accidents involving ammonium nitrate explosions over the years here in the US of A.
Sooooo.......
Got any fertilizer facilities, plants or large scale storage near you?