CNN) -- An explosion ripped through a fertilizer plant Wednesday night in the area of West, Texas, sending a massive fireball into the sky and causing dozens of injuries, officials said.
A number of nearby residents were being evacuated because of the possibility of another explosion, officials said.
A hospital in nearby Waco, Texas, has been told to anticipate 100 injured people coming in from the fertilizer plant area, an official at the medical facility said.
Glenn Robinson, CEO of Hillcrest Hospital, said a field triage station was being set up on a football field near the plant some 18 miles north of Waco after the Wednesday night explosion. Report: Explosion at Texas plant
"We have had a steady flow of patients coming in by ambulance as well as by private vehicles," Robinson told CNN's Anderson Cooper.
More than 60 patients were received as of 10 p.m. (11 p.m. ET), Robinson said, suffering from "blast injuries, orthopedic injuries (and) a lot of lacerations. While some of the injuries are minor, others are "quite serious," he said.
Hazardous material teams were being rushed to the scene, an emergency management official said.
At least six helicopters are going to fly out those who are injured, Robinson said. Others are being transported by ambulance, and some are getting to the hospital by car, he added.
Two other hospitals in the region were also assisting.
As many scrambled to assist the injured, another danger seemed to emerge Wednesday night.
"What we are hearing is that there is one fertilizer tank that is still intact at the plant, and there are evacuations in place to make sure everyone gets away from the area safely in case of another explosion," said Ben Stratmann, a spokesman for Texas State Sen. Brian Birdwell.
Photos of the explosion -- which reportedly happened around 7:50 p.m. (8:50 p.m. ET) -- showed a huge blaze and flames leaping over the roof of a structure and a plume of smoke rising high into the air.
The West Fertilizer Plant is just north of Waco. A school and a nursing home are among the buildings near the plant, CNN affiliate KWTX reported.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry said he is aware of the explosion, a spokesman said, and was working to get resources into the area.
Tommy Alford, who works in a convenience store about three miles from the plant, told CNN that several volunteer firefighters were at the store when they spotted smoke. Alford said the firefighters headed toward the scene and then between five and 10 minutes later, he heard a massive explosion.
"It was massive; it was intense," Alford said.
Chrystal Anthony, a nearby resident, said she saw the flames engulf a nursing home and an apartment complex.
"It was an apartment complex that was devastated, the nursing home. The fire was close to a residential area," Anthony said.
"It was like a bomb went off," said Barry Murry, a resident who lives about a mile away from the plant. "There were emergency vehicles everywhere. It has been overwhelming."
West, Texas, is a community of about 2,800 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Sitting about 75 miles south of Dallas and 120 miles north of Austin, West is one of 22 incorporated communities in McLennan County.
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The explosion videos surfacing are absolutely sickening. My thoughts and prayers are with those involved.
Quote: Just watched one of the videos. Holy freaking crap.
I saw the one where the guy is sitting in his truck filming the fire when the plant goes up. His daughter was in the back " dad I cant hear, Dad I cant hear, please get out of here!"
Crazy stuff
You may be in the drivers seat but God is holding the map. #GMSTRONG
Quote: Just watched one of the videos. Holy freaking crap.
I saw the one where the guy is sitting in his truck filming the fire when the plant goes up. His daughter was in the back " dad I cant hear, Dad I cant hear, please get out of here!"
That was insane.. It was either the chief of police or someone other official that said they are treating this as a criminal matter until or if it's determined to be an industrial accident.
That's one scary thought..
#GMSTRONG
“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.” Daniel Patrick Moynahan
"Alternative facts hurt us all. Think before you blindly believe." Damanshot
Quote: That was insane.. It was either the chief of police or someone other official that said they are treating this as a criminal matter until or if it's determined to be an industrial accident.
That's one scary thought..
SOP you want to rule criminaL activity out by taking all the necessary a steps to product the scene and whatever clues etc. Then rule out the heinous possibilities first and move forward.
Besides we have to protect what clues we have so we can impose the death penalty if it was a criminal act.
BTW we felt the blast 60 miles away... thought it was a quake.
Quote: On a side note...PEOPLE please learn to photo and video with the phone sideways like a standard camera, vertical video syndrome is annoying to watch.
I'm with you! I've now got my wife noticing this and annoyed by it.
"Swanton said a "small amount of looting" has occurred near the blast site, but he did not provide additional details. He said looters are a "significant concern" to authorities and that at least one person suspected of being a looter was spotting running from a damaged home."
No reason to let a good human disaster prevent people from a little looting
The Constitution shall never be construe to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms. – Samuel Adams
"Swanton said a "small amount of looting" has occurred near the blast site, but he did not provide additional details. He said looters are a "significant concern" to authorities and that at least one person suspected of being a looter was spotting running from a damaged home."
"Swanton said a "small amount of looting" has occurred near the blast site, but he did not provide additional details. He said looters are a "significant concern" to authorities and that at least one person suspected of being a looter was spotting running from a damaged home."
"Swanton said a "small amount of looting" has occurred near the blast site, but he did not provide additional details. He said looters are a "significant concern" to authorities and that at least one person suspected of being a looter was spotting running from a damaged home."
Latest report showed that the facility had 96,000 tons of Amonium Nitrate, for comparison, the Oklahoma City bombing was 3 tons. The blast registered a 2.1 magnitude on the Richter scale.
Holy crap! That looked like a safe distance from the fire ..... but evidently not.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
The man and his daughter are fine. The daughter has minor inner ear soreness but can hear just fine.
Side note they were about 300 yards away from the explosion. He said it felt like the explosion lifted up the truck.
I'd love to see a city map to help understand why there were so many fatalities and so much building destruction. From that video it looks like it isn't particularly close to anything. Maybe the 2.1 Richter explosion was enough to collapse some buildings? I saw one place was completely destroyed and I don't really understand why or how.
That looks like a lot more than 300 yards just to the building in the foreground. As it pans right, there is another building there, it looks to be at least a half mile away.
Browns is the Browns
... there goes Joe Thomas, the best there ever was in this game.
You can see it on google maps. Its labeled. On three sides there are fields, on the forth side its next to the town separated by the width of a city block.
Quote: Latest report showed that the facility had 96,000 tons of Amonium Nitrate, for comparison, the Oklahoma City bombing was 3 tons. The blast registered a 2.1 magnitude on the Richter scale.
It's this. You can see the apartments and nursing home to the left of it. And the school that was damaged. I don't know how to link to google maps, but on there it says fertilizer plant when zoomed in on my tablet. It's in West, Tx.
