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# Texas Chemical Plant Explodes

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/tVa4CJIA.m3u8" -->
## Video: Texas Chemical Plant Explodes

[Watch (HLS stream): Texas Chemical Plant Explodes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/tVa4CJIA.m3u8) (1:33)

![Texas Chemical Plant Explodes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/tVa4CJIA/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2013-04-18. The West Fertilizr Co. chemical plant north of Waco, Texas explodes, killing between 5 and 15 people._


---

Jul 27, 2023 3:32 PM UTC

---

## More From This Series

[All Videos](https://time.com/video/)

[Texas Chemical Plant Explosion and Fire Prompts Shelter-in-Place Order](/video/9OoY5LQu/)

### Texas Chemical Plant Explosion and Fire Prompts Shelter-in-Place Order

[Chemical Plant Explosion in South Texas Forces Evacuation of 50,000 As Fire Rages](/video/UKoQVnag/)

### Chemical Plant Explosion in South Texas Forces Evacuation of 50,000 As Fire Rages

[3 People Injured, Evacuation Ordered After Explosion at Texas Plant Releases Chemical Plume](/video/Ner2HGnB/)

### 3 People Injured, Evacuation Ordered After Explosion at Texas Plant Releases Chemical Plume

---


## Transcript

[ SOUND ] Are you okay? Stunning video. The West Fertilizer Plant in the small town of West, Texas, about twenty miles from Waco, exploding [ SOUND ]. The blast and the massive fire that followed leaving dozens of homes and buildings heavily damaged or destroyed. The town's mayor telling CNN what it felt like. I just never have seen an explosion like that. It just, it was a ball of fire and it went up, looks like a nuclear bomb went off. Big old, big old mushroom cloud. The blast was so strong it registered as a magnitude 2. 1 earthquake. We're in Elmont, we just saw a explosion on the horizon.

[ INAUDIBLE ] We need every ambulance we can get this way. A bomb just went off inside here. It's pretty bad. Half of the town's 2600 residents were forced to evacuate. Officials concerned about potentially deadly gas fumes and a second fertilizer tank that could also explode. People living near the plant feared for their lives. When it exploded We all just hit the ground, and I was trying to cover up my daughter because there was a lot of debris flying. And then, after that, it was just basically search and rescue. The smoldering fire and fumes prevented rescue workers from getting near the plant.

Officials say the blast area resembles a war zone. Massive. Just like Iraq Just like the Murray Building in Oklahoma City. Same kind of anhydrous exploded. So you can imagine what kind of damage we're looking at there.

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