West Texas Explosion Has Wide Effects

By Kathya Anguiano | Photo credit: Fir0002 / Foter.com / CC BY-SA |

A massive explosion at a fertilizer plant in the North Texas town of West last week left 14 people dead and injured more than 100 people from the city’s nearly 3,000 population.

The blast took place at the West Fertilizer Plant, about 18 miles north of Waco. Workers were sent in gas masks after the explosion with fear that Anhydrous Ammonia had been released into the air.

“Anhydrous means without water so if it were to rain it would become Ammonium Nitrate and become a poisonous toxin in the air and everybody may be in danger,” Valerie Felger, chemistry teacher, said. “Ammonium Nitrate is in any fertilizer and I believe it was the same material in the Oklahoma City bombing in April 19, 1995 where around 168 people died.”

Felger said that by now, the chemical threat to the community is over. Though West was small, the nearby town of Waco which hosts Baylor University kept their eye on the situation.  DATA teacher Steven Hudson  is concerned for the inhabitants of Waco.

“I currently have two kids up in Baylor University and when I heard about the explosion, even though Waco and West Texas are a bit apart, it made me wonder if they were okay,” Hudson, a Geometry teacher, said last week. “Winds are starting to blow from the North towards my kids, and even though I know my kids are far away I worry for the hundreds of families being affected in that small community.”

Blood drives are being held at Baylor University and students have gathered to start prayers for everybody who is still in recovery.

“I find it very sad how all these crazy things are going on and everybody is blaming it on the Koreans; who cares who did it, it just needs to stop,” Mayela Garcia, senior, said. “I think that a lot of innocent people are getting hurt whether it’s because of a natural disaster or not I feel sad for those people in Waco because it’s so small and they can only get a certain amount of help. I know I would be devastated if something like that was to happen here in San Antonio, it’s scary and I just hope they get better.”

Timing has many people wondering if it wasn’t an accident.  At a press conference Tuesday, officials eliminated natural causes.