TX - Fertilizer plant explodes in West, Texas

[mister happy]

Thanks for the updates on Reed. To tell ya the truth, I had almost forgotten about him!

 

[SeekingJana]

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/west...da-paramedic-not-linked-to-west-explosion.ece

The D.A. says apparently not connected, but that he " still has a lot of material to study".

I guess at this point, it is a conditional statement of exoneration?

I hope Mr. Reed gets justice, ongoing mental health help, and is not persecuted any further. It's a huge leap from " possessing items to make a pipe bomb" to causing mass casualties and immense property destruction in such a tiny town, where everyone is affected. Hoping still that the blast was an accident due to lax building and safety codes.

 

[danzn16]

In such a tiny town he'll ways be looked at suspiciously after all this regardless of whether he is guilty or not IMO. I'm from a small town also and people love to talk.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jjenny]

After reading that article, I don't see it as a statement of exoneration. They haven't got enough evidence to figure out what caused this explosion.
Basically, no evidence to charge him without knowing the cause of the explosion. Whether he is connected or not is another story alltogether.

 

[SeekingJana]

http://www.wacotrib.com/news/greate...cle_8ffeed84-9cf0-517c-9d35-63d1eb627c8b.html

It should be easy enough to guess. All who died as a direct result of the blast died of blunt force trauma. Article states that one firefighter was decapitated.

3 firefighters had BAC levels above TX legal limit and one had THC in his blood. ( they were called to the scene from home as volunteers).
Not a contributory factor but the coroner's office reported it anyway.

One elderly resident of the nursing home damaged in the blast died a day or so after the blast of cardiopulmonary causes. He was the lone exception to the blunt force trauma deaths, and was probably very ill to begin with.

God bless West.

 

[DEPUTYDAWG]

Much of the community is outraged at the newspaper for publishing details of the autopsies, and the comments about the alcohol levels. There's even a new FB page devoted to boycotting the newspaper. LOL, it doesn't take long on FB, does it?

I'm not picking sides on that matter, just reporting how much of the community feels about those details being published.


- - - - ETA:

Here is just a few letters to the editor from yesterday.

Trust me, it's been the last few days.



http://www.wacotrib.com/opinion/let...cle_7d80575f-6e08-57d6-be58-abfbb02d153a.html

 

[AlwaysShocked]

Just my own opinion, but for whatever reason it sounds like this town has more problems than having had this horrible explosion. The mayor takes his time to write a letter to a newspaper criticizing the newspaper for printing facts. Not opinions, not speculation. Facts. And the citizens are going to boycott the newspaper because it printed accurate facts?

The town receives a letter stating they do not meet the criteria to receive FEMA funds for a rebuilding project. Instead of saying anything helpful - such as "we will appeal this decision" or "we will apply at other agencies" - the town spokespeople whine around about "President Obama not keeping his promise". If the situation does not legally qualify for this particular funding, does anyone actually think the President can just wave a magic wand and bestow funding?

There sure would be a hue and cry if the President of the US could just go around bestowing federal funds from federal agencies in any manner he personally chooses, wouldn't there?

I feel very sorry for this town. But it sure sounds like they need better leadership than they currently have.

 

[SeekingJana]

Much of the community is outraged at the newspaper for publishing details of the autopsies, and the comments about the alcohol levels. There's even a new FB page devoted to boycotting the newspaper. LOL, it doesn't take long on FB, does it?

I'm not picking sides on that matter, just reporting how much of the community feels about those details being published.


- - - - ETA:

Here is just a few letters to the editor from yesterday.

Trust me, it's been the last few days.



http://www.wacotrib.com/opinion/let...cle_7d80575f-6e08-57d6-be58-abfbb02d153a.html

Hi, Dep.,
NOTHING could propel me back to FB, so I am biased against the comments and the people who make them on the site. The friends in my life surround me, and we have no need for online " one-up-manship" which is rampant in my age/ socioeconomic group.

I think West. TX, has leaders with a misplaced sense of outrage and anger. I read the news from Waco and am stunned that they are so militant and unpleasant. People aren't going to help a snarling dog, but they certainly will a puppy with a tail wagging.

The coroner reported the facts and the newspaper was well within legal rights to give statistics regarding alcohol and cannabis use of first responders. Everyone reading should have known and understood that the firemen and EMTs were coming from home, in the evening. No names were mentioned.. ever.

In some parts of Texas, and the country in general, the ETOH levels in particular would have been elevated in a much greater proportion. I don't see it as being a big deal.

For example, our very large propane tank which heats our pool and spa developed a leak on a weekend a year or two ago. We only have a volunteer fire department, which seems to be a very common practice in Texas. My husband thought he shut it off but I could still smell the gas 30 mins. later, so there was still a leak.
The fire personnel who responded did so promptly, and 1 or 2 had been at a BBQ when the call was received. I was glad for their presence in shutting off the propane regardless of them having consumed a few of their beverage of choice earlier in the day.

 

[Jewels53]

I agree that the town people may have the wrong attitude. The thing is we don't know where they are coming from or how they feel.

My daughter and family live just south of West at Elm Mott. They have many friends that live in West. My granddaughter goes to high school in West and was forced to go to a temporary school for the remainder of last yr.

In May of this yr 2013 my dh and I went to visit our DD in Elm Mott. The family took us to West for a tour and saw the devastation there. It was horrible, street after street with destroyed homes. The 2 schools destroyed, middle school and the high school, plus the nursing home. The crater left by the explosion was huge. No we didn't take any pictures because this was devastating to these people.

Our son in law showed us friends homes that he entered with the friends to help remove belonging with walls and roofs caving in.

Unfortunately a lot of these people didn't have sufficient insurance on their homes, we were told. They were paid for and didn't think they needed the insurance anymore. Sad I know!

These doesn't excuse the attitude of boycotting a newspaper or being upset with the president. I just wanted to tell you perhaps how these people are living. Most are just everyday citizens with normal jobs trying to make a living. Not rich people trying to make a quick $. At least that was my impression of the housing I saw.

Thanks for listening.

 

[SeekingJana]

I agree that the town people may have the wrong attitude. The thing is we don't know where they are coming from or how they feel.

My daughter and family live just south of West at Elm Mott. They have many friends that live in West. My granddaughter goes to high school in West and was forced to go to a temporary school for the remainder of last yr.

In May of this yr 2013 my dh and I went to visit our DD in Elm Mott. The family took us to West for a tour and saw the devastation there. It was horrible, street after street with destroyed homes. The 2 schools destroyed, middle school and the high school, plus the nursing home. The crater left by the explosion was huge. No we didn't take any pictures because this was devastating to these people.

Our son in law showed us friends homes that he entered with the friends to help remove belonging with walls and roofs caving in.

Unfortunately a lot of these people didn't have sufficient insurance on their homes, we were told. They were paid for and didn't think they needed the insurance anymore. Sad I know!

These doesn't excuse the attitude of boycotting a newspaper or being upset with the president. I just wanted to tell you perhaps how these people are living. Most are just everyday citizens with normal jobs trying to make a living. Not rich people trying to make a quick $. At least that was my impression of the housing I saw.

Thanks for listening.

Totally agree that the devastation is horrific. However, mental health counselors are needed very badly in the area to help the survivors get on with the process of grieving, then living.

Being stuck in a world of generalized anger and mistrust will not help any one of them to survive or thrive. I have been at the site of mass casualties before, and I know that after the " fight or flight" response, those who prosper are the ones who have self- determination and most of all, HOPE.

On the practical side of things:The official petition for FEMA assistance and federal relief grant money was not worded correctly. Likewise, when trying to decide what to do with money for the schools, TIIC locally in West wanted to re-surface the dadgum football field at first!! NOTHING about rebuilding a school or providing temporary school rooms, but focused on the football field. I shook my head and backed away from feeling sorry for them right then. There have been procedural errors made ever since Bryce Reed started crying on national TV and was allowed to be the talking head for the town.
NO ONE stood up and invoked their rights as leaders of the town by election.

One section of the small town was blown off the map but most of it remains. The elected officials survived but did not lead. The attorneys for West did not adequately state the town's needs to the government agencies which fund grants, loans, and other assistance. Those who failed to step up and serve with intelligence instead of emotions are the people the town should be angry at, not the " government". It's hard for me to say this, as they are also survivors, and because I totally do not trust anything Obama says or does, but the leaders and lawyers in West dropped the ball. Possibly also their congressmen.

 

[AlwaysShocked]

seeking: Thank you for your forthright and honest post. I suspected that something like this was the problem. By the way, where did you get your info about the FEMA application and the resurfacing of the football field?

Didn't the mayor of the town "step down" from his duties as spokesperson within a few days of the explosion? Not that he had ever stepped up, as I recall.
I think I remember reading that at the time and thinking it was so odd.

Granted, not everyone is a Rudy Giuliani in the days after a tragedy, but hopefully SOMEONE in this town will step up and take a positive leadership role.

And if the lawyers for the town screwed up the paperwork on something this important, they need to be immediately replaced. Yes, by a "big city" firm. With lawyers who know what they are doing.

Does this town have a town or city counsel?

 

[DEPUTYDAWG]

Hi, Dep.,
NOTHING could propel me back to FB, so I am biased against the comments and the people who make them on the site. The friends in my life surround me, and we have no need for online " one-up-manship" which is rampant in my age/ socioeconomic group.

I think West. TX, has leaders with a misplaced sense of outrage and anger. I read the news from Waco and am stunned that they are so militant and unpleasant. People aren't going to help a snarling dog, but they certainly will a puppy with a tail wagging.

The coroner reported the facts and the newspaper was well within legal rights to give statistics regarding alcohol and cannabis use of first responders. Everyone reading should have known and understood that the firemen and EMTs were coming from home, in the evening. No names were mentioned.. ever.
In some parts of Texas, and the country in general, the ETOH levels in particular would have been elevated in a much greater proportion. I don't see it as being a big deal.

For example, our very large propane tank which heats our pool and spa developed a leak on a weekend a year or two ago. We only have a volunteer fire department, which seems to be a very common practice in Texas. My husband thought he shut it off but I could still smell the gas 30 mins. later, so there was still a leak.
The fire personnel who responded did so promptly, and 1 or 2 had been at a BBQ when the call was received. I was glad for their presence in shutting off the propane regardless of them having consumed a few of their beverage of choice earlier in the day.

Red by me - -

To clarify, the Waco Trib paper did not list the names of those with the high BOC's or the THC, but unfortunately, another newspaper did (I think from South Carolina, of all places.) So, the names are known and so you know the locals now know. It's on the internet, so anyone can find it with a search.

LOL re FB...I haven't even gone to the FB page, as I don't really agree with the boycott. Again, I'm trying to be sensitive to the families, but I know the paper had every right to report what they did. I'm just staying on the fence. But I saw two of my West friends "like" that FB page and it came up on my FB news feed, so that's how I know one already exists.

Tough time in West.

I do hope the upcoming WestFest will be a great event for them in a few weeks. I would think it would be.

 

[Jewels53]

I could be very wrong in this statement but it was my understanding that they were going to try to fix up the very old high school in West so the senior class could stay together and graduate together in 2014. My granddaughter will be a part of that class.

I know nothing about the football stadium. I didn't think the main stadium was affected by damage, though I could be wrong.

It could take a few years before 2 schools could be rebuilt.

I am looking at this from the human side, simply because these residents didn't ask for this to happen to them.

I do understand that there is a legal side to this also.

 

[AlwaysShocked]

I guess I am just unable to understand why the fact that some of these VOLUNTEERS had alcohol in their blood at time of death seems to be seen as shameful or something. Or, for that matter the THC. That it was so awful for a newspaper to print this. So what?

It isn't like they knew there was going to be a fire call. Nobody was "drinking while on duty" or anything like that. Presumably they were at home. Or maybe out at a social club or even in a bar, having a beer or whatever. Volunteer firemen are as entitled to socialize and drink alcohol as anybody else.

My late father was a volunteer fireman for many, many years. Every New Year's Eve his firehall hosted a big party. All the firemen and their wives attended, of course. Well, one New Year's Eve shortly after midnight an alarm came in. One of the really old local school houses was on fire! I can remember my dad saying there were certain firemen they would not allow to get onto a ladder.

It ended up to be a three or four alarm fire and the building was severely damaged and ended up being torn down. It had not been being used for classes for several years, was only used as storage for old books and desks and things for the school district.

 

[AlwaysShocked]

I guess I am just unable to understand why the fact that some of these VOLUNTEERS had alcohol in their blood at time of death seems to be seen as shameful or something. Or, for that matter the THC. So what?

It isn't like these men knew there was going to be a fire call. Nobody was "drinking while on duty" or anything like that. Presumably they were at home. Or maybe out at a social club or even in a bar, having a beer or whatever. Volunteer firemen are as entitled to socialize and drink alcohol as anybody else.

The people of West would be well advised to take all their misplaced anger and turn it into the direction of recovery.
------------
Wait a minute. Looks like President Obama did wave his magic wand. From an article dated Aug. 2, 2013:

"In an about-face, the Obama administration declared West, Texas, a major disaster area in the aftermath of a deadly fertilizer plant explosion that devastated a 37-square-block swath of the town in April.

The declaration, announced Friday, means local government will be eligible to receive federal funding for a town that has vowed to do "whatever they have to do to rebuild."

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/201...hs-after-explosion-devastates-west-texas?lite

 

[SeekingJana]

seeking: Thank you for your forthright and honest post. I suspected that something like this was the problem. By the way, where did you get your info about the FEMA application and the resurfacing of the football field?

Respectfully snipped by me.

The info about the townsfolk wanting to re-sod the football field and make it all spiffy for the players came from the news section of the KWTX website.
There were also articles about it and the final dissention which ended the dumb plan in news section of the Waco Tribune online.

As a friendly aside: -I have stated earlier on this thread that all my info about West, TX comes from these two official sources. I do not go to FB, Topix, or Google for " gossip" type sites.

I don't know the answers to the other questions. Like I said, I stopped being extremely concerned about the town when the town leaders planned to re-sod the football field with money received for re-building while a school was destroyed. A person has to pick and choose their battles and deep concerns, and West kind of made up my mind for me. Sorry.:truce:

Thanks,
Maria

 

[SeekingJana]

I could be very wrong in this statement but it was my understanding that they were going to try to fix up the very old high school in West so the senior class could stay together and graduate together in 2014. My granddaughter will be a part of that class.

I know nothing about the football stadium. I didn't think the main stadium was affected by damage, though I could be wrong.

It could take a few years before 2 schools could be rebuilt.

I am looking at this from the human side, simply because these residents didn't ask for this to happen to them.

I do understand that there is a legal side to this also.

A football field is not the same as a football stadium. The articles are still available to read. Look on KWTX website and the Wace Tribune online in the news archives. That's where I read about the *advertiser censored*-eyed plan.
I could not make this up if I TRIED. They absolutely did have an amount of money to use for re-building and fussed for weeks about re-sodding the freaking football field vs. other, more worthwhile and sensible projects.

 

[SeekingJana]

Red by me - -

To clarify, the Waco Trib paper did not list the names of those with the high BOC's or the THC, but unfortunately, another newspaper did (I think from South Carolina, of all places.) So, the names are known and so you know the locals now know. It's on the internet, so anyone can find it with a search.

LOL re FB...I haven't even gone to the FB page, as I don't really agree with the boycott. Again, I'm trying to be sensitive to the families, but I know the paper had every right to report what they did. I'm just staying on the fence. But I saw two of my West friends "like" that FB page and it came up on my FB news feed, so that's how I know one already exists.

Tough time in West.

I do hope the upcoming WestFest will be a great event for them in a few weeks. I would think it would be.

How did a newspaper in SC get that kind of info, exactly???

Did the coroner who was in charge of the release of the autopsy results actually release the names of the ones who had been drinking and the one who at some point, had been smoking pot?? OR, since this is TX, where almost ALL records are easily accessible by the public, did the SC newspaper do its own digging for the dirt on the brave dead men in the autopsy reports? The coroner did due diligence in testing, but it stops right there.:blushing:
There is a HUGE difference in how the info was obtained.

I am stunned once again at the lack of privacy in this state!! Someone needs to be held legally accountable for the printing of the names, if they really did, and this is not a FB type " legend".

I agree with Always Shocked, though, that volunteer firemen and such DO have personal lives and if they drink moderately, they might get called out on a night when they have had a few brews.
I see NOTHING wrong with the practice, but everything wrong with deliberately trying to sensationalize dead men's activities before they died that night.

AND-Not that anyone asked, but I don't think it's right to even tell people that the info is available on the Internet either, for what it's worth. MOST of us will not go in search of it because we did not know these men except as a group of brave, and perhaps unprepared, earnest and dedicated firefighters and EMTs.

 

[SeekingJana]

THIS article exposes what the " leaders" in West wanted to do, and what their congressman finally, after months of wrangling, convinced them to do with regard to the stupid football field.

Please note how much they wanted to spend for artificial turf. ( over $900.000).
Please note what the congressman said about the proposal hurting their chances of getting FEMA aid in the future!!
Also, note the date of the article. Didn't happen days or weeks after the blast but a few months.

http://www.wacotrib.com/news/greate...cle_f2a55df9-9197-5d11-b8d1-a48238811f2d.html

This is not speculation, not rumor. It's news. And, it's my last post about how utterly lost those in positions of management in West. TX are. A member of Congress in their district had to tell them to shape up and be fiscally responsible. :banghead:

 

[DEPUTYDAWG]

How did a newspaper in SC get that kind of info, exactly???

Did the coroner who was in charge of the release of the autopsy results actually release the names of the ones who had been drinking and the one who at some point, had been smoking pot?? OR, since this is TX, where almost ALL records are easily accessible by the public, did the SC newspaper do its own digging for the dirt on the brave dead men in the autopsy reports? The coroner did due diligence in testing, but it stops right there.:blushing:
There is a HUGE difference in how the info was obtained.

I am stunned once again at the lack of privacy in this state!! Someone needs to be held legally accountable for the printing of the names, if they really did, and this is not a FB type " legend".

I agree with Always Shocked, though, that volunteer firemen and such DO have personal lives and if they drink moderately, they might get called out on a night when they have had a few brews.
I see NOTHING wrong with the practice, but everything wrong with deliberately trying to sensationalize dead men's activities before they died that night.

AND-Not that anyone asked, but I don't think it's right to even tell people that the info is available on the Internet either, for what it's worth. MOST of us will not go in search of it because we did not know these men except as a group of brave, and perhaps unprepared, earnest and dedicated firefighters and EMTs.

Sorry you feel I shouldn't have said it's on the internet. Ummm, in the big picture, there aren't that many people here at WS compared to the rest of the State, let alone the greater West area. How do you think I was told they were printed? (And no, it's not a FB "legend.") The local folk know all about it, it spread quickly.

I agree with those who really were surprised/upset at the whole "let's get turf" ASAP...that didn't go over well in this area, either. Not a priority. :banghead:

As we can see right here as a little pulse on opinions, there are conflicting perspectives in the West area, as well. That is all I said with this morning's post. Re the alcohol/THC, it's an emotional topic which many feel one way, and others feel another. I think most local people understand these were volunteers, who didn't know they were going to get called out. I have only tried to give a local perspective and have tried to remain neutral and be fair to both sides. I haven't given my personal opinion yet, I don't believe.