Fertilizer plant explodes in Texas...

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FatHobbit

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8,651 posts
Apr 18, 2013 11:48 AM
I want to say I would be smart enough to not sit on the side of the road and watch a fertilizer plant blow up, but I'm not sure if I saw a big fire that I wouldn't stop and take a video from that distance. I live just a few miles down the road from a fertilizer plant. I have never considered that my house is any danger from it.
Apr 18, 2013 11:48am
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ernest_t_bass

12th Son of the Lama

24,984 posts
Apr 18, 2013 11:51 AM
imex99;1428108 wrote:STOP...
I see what you did there.
Apr 18, 2013 11:51am
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TedSheckler

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Apr 18, 2013 12:26 PM
Chesapeake;1427955 wrote:Tomorrow marks 20th anniversary of David Koresh's death in Waco. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Koresh
baseballstud24;1427975 wrote:Also the anniversary of the OKC bombing
And the day after that is the anniversary of Columbine.
And Hitler's birthday
And 420....maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan.

;)
Apr 18, 2013 12:26pm
W

WebFire

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14,779 posts
Apr 18, 2013 1:26 PM
FatHobbit;1428120 wrote:I want to say I would be smart enough to not sit on the side of the road and watch a fertilizer plant blow up, but I'm not sure if I saw a big fire that I wouldn't stop and take a video from that distance. I live just a few miles down the road from a fertilizer plant. I have never considered that my house is any danger from it.
This. LOL at people calling the guy a dumbass, pretending they would have known to stay farther back. Most people probably have no idea the danger that this presented, and if the roads weren't shut down, probably didn't think anything of it. He probably thought he was plenty far away from it.
Apr 18, 2013 1:26pm
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SportsAndLady

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35,632 posts
Apr 18, 2013 1:29 PM
WebFire;1428225 wrote:This. LOL at people calling the guy a dumbass, pretending they would have known to stay farther back. Most people probably have no idea the danger that this presented, and if the roads weren't shut down, probably didn't think anything of it. He probably thought he was plenty far away from it.

+1

Lol @ f4f for blasting this guy for doing what f4f would have 100% been doing in the same situation.
Apr 18, 2013 1:29pm
ts1227's avatar

ts1227

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Apr 18, 2013 1:39 PM
FatHobbit;1428120 wrote:I want to say I would be smart enough to not sit on the side of the road and watch a fertilizer plant blow up, but I'm not sure if I saw a big fire that I wouldn't stop and take a video from that distance. I live just a few miles down the road from a fertilizer plant. I have never considered that my house is any danger from it.

Agreed. I think anyone would have felt like that was a safe distance when driving by. Obviously people know what will happen if a fertilizer plant is engulfed in flames now, but I'd have stopped there
Apr 18, 2013 1:39pm
Big_Mirg_ZHS's avatar

Big_Mirg_ZHS

Recovering Pothead

2,079 posts
Apr 18, 2013 1:54 PM
This reminded me of this explosion.

[video=youtube_share;_KuGizBjDXo][/video]
Apr 18, 2013 1:54pm
S

Sonofanump

Apr 18, 2013 1:56 PM
If you see Davis Besse, Perry, or Enrico Fermi on fire, don't stop and video it.
Apr 18, 2013 1:56pm
Hb31187's avatar

Hb31187

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8,534 posts
Apr 18, 2013 2:08 PM
Why on earth would you watch a FERTILIZER plant burn from that close? You dont have to be a genius or a chemist to know that fertilizer plant+fire=boom
Apr 18, 2013 2:08pm
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Midstate01

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Apr 18, 2013 2:13 PM
Can't say I wouldn't have watched. But growing up around the farm, id like to think id know something bad was probably going to happen. But still I probably woulf have been watching. Its like a wreck on the highway. We all have to slow down to look and see what happened. It's just what we do.
Apr 18, 2013 2:13pm
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WebFire

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Apr 18, 2013 2:19 PM
Hb31187;1428266 wrote:Why on earth would you watch a FERTILIZER plant burn from that close? You dont have to be a genius or a chemist to know that fertilizer plant+fire=boom
Easy to say after watching it happen.
Apr 18, 2013 2:19pm
S

Sonofanump

Apr 18, 2013 2:20 PM
If you at the beach at the tide goes out really far, it's a tsunami and gonna come back ten fold.
Apr 18, 2013 2:20pm
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Hb31187

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Apr 18, 2013 2:25 PM
WebFire;1428280 wrote:Easy to say after watching it happen.
Maybe if i didnt live in the area and didnt know what plant was burning. If I see a fertilizer plant burning, I want to be nowhere near it. Its pretty common knowledge that fertilizer and flame is bad news
Apr 18, 2013 2:25pm
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vball10set

paying it forward

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Apr 18, 2013 2:29 PM
Sonofanump;1428286 wrote:If you at the beach at the tide goes out really far, it's a tsunami and gonna come back ten fold.
lol, you day drinking?
Apr 18, 2013 2:29pm
FatHobbit's avatar

FatHobbit

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Apr 18, 2013 2:34 PM
Hb31187;1428293 wrote:Maybe if i didnt live in the area and didnt know what plant was burning. If I see a fertilizer plant burning, I want to be nowhere near it. Its pretty common knowledge that fertilizer and flame is bad news
I had no clue it would be that big of an explosion.
Apr 18, 2013 2:34pm
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tk421

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Apr 18, 2013 4:52 PM
I want to know why a fertilizer plant was so close to residences and schools and a nursing home. Forgetting about the obvious now explosion hazard, the potential release of poisonous gas no way I would be living close to one.
Apr 18, 2013 4:52pm
G

gut

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15,058 posts
Apr 18, 2013 5:19 PM
Hb31187;1428266 wrote:Why on earth would you watch a FERTILIZER plant burn from that close? You dont have to be a genius or a chemist to know that fertilizer plant+fire=boom
Yeah.....fertilizer, chemical, refinery, natural gas = can't get me far enough away. You SHOULD know that fire at one of those places is very, very bad news.
Apr 18, 2013 5:19pm
G

gut

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15,058 posts
Apr 18, 2013 5:20 PM
tk421;1428402 wrote:I want to know why a fertilizer plant was so close to residences and schools and a nursing home. Forgetting about the obvious now explosion hazard, the potential release of poisonous gas no way I would be living close to one.
Good question. I wonder which came first, the plant or the rest of it. Not like it's a big town that might have grown out to surround the plant.
Apr 18, 2013 5:20pm
G

gut

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Apr 18, 2013 5:23 PM
FatHobbit;1428300 wrote:I had no clue it would be that big of an explosion.
Which is why we said we'd be nowhere near it. You know it can explode, why would you try to guess what is a safe distance?
Apr 18, 2013 5:23pm
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Heretic

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18,820 posts
Apr 18, 2013 5:25 PM
Before trying to figure out what happened here, I think I'll wait until the New York Post figures out how this thing started.

I'm guessing the dart they'll throw will land on the square labeled, "rogue fortune-teller possessed by Tim McVeigh's ghost after seance gone wrong", but they might just go with the tried-and-true "blame it on the closest minority to this place" headline, instead.
Apr 18, 2013 5:25pm
S

Sonofanump

Apr 18, 2013 5:27 PM
vball10set;1428296 wrote:lol, you day drinking?
No, it has just become evident that public disclaimers are needed.
Apr 18, 2013 5:27pm
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WebFire

Go Bucks!

14,779 posts
Apr 18, 2013 5:31 PM
Hb31187;1428293 wrote:Maybe if i didnt live in the area and didnt know what plant was burning. If I see a fertilizer plant burning, I want to be nowhere near it. Its pretty common knowledge that fertilizer and flame is bad news
Right, you probably would have stayed about a 1/4 away like most people. Unless you are carrying a one of the below, or studied haz-mat, you wouldn't know it would produce that big of an explosion. Also, why didn't fire and LEO have the area blocked off? I blame them more than any resident. It was 50 minutes into the incident.

Apr 18, 2013 5:31pm
G

gut

Senior Member

15,058 posts
Apr 18, 2013 5:42 PM
WebFire;1428431 wrote:Also, why didn't fire and LEO have the area blocked off?
Small town without a lot of resources.

I remember seeing footage of some ridiculously massive natural gas plant explosion a year or two ago, that's why I'd stay a long ways away. Plus I also remember what the OK City bombing did. I wouldn't have wanted to be 400 yards from that, so I'd give a whole plant of the stuff a much wider berth. Just plain common sense.

And besides the blast radius itself, I'd also be worried about flying debris that I'd expect to be launched over a mile. So, no, I'm nowhere near 1/4 mile from that.
Apr 18, 2013 5:42pm
LJ's avatar

LJ

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Apr 18, 2013 6:00 PM
tk421;1428402 wrote:I want to know why a fertilizer plant was so close to residences and schools and a nursing home. Forgetting about the obvious now explosion hazard, the potential release of poisonous gas no way I would be living close to one.
Basically from what I have read, the plants were there first and the city grew up around it leeching off of the infrastructure they had built.
Apr 18, 2013 6:00pm
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vball10set

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Apr 18, 2013 6:23 PM
WebFire;1428280 wrote:Easy to say after watching it happen.
WebFire;1428431 wrote:Right, you probably would have stayed about a 1/4 away like most people. Unless you are carrying a one of the below, or studied haz-mat, you wouldn't know it would produce that big of an explosion. Also, why didn't fire and LEO have the area blocked off? I blame them more than any resident. It was 50 minutes into the incident.

reps on both posts :thumbup:
Apr 18, 2013 6:23pm