gut;1428441 wrote: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.

WebFire;1428508 wrote:You'd be the exception then, IMO. And BS on the resources. I am a volunteer firefighter in a town of 1500, and we'd sure as hell get resources there in 50 minutes to block off access in the appropriate area if we knew the potential.

gut;1428576 wrote:I suppose I'd be an exception - common sense is a dying breed. Like I said, anyone that remembers OK City should have realized the awesome potential of a whole plant of the stuff.

You'd devote resources away from a fire that size? And would blocking the road be a priority over evacuating the immediate vicinity? Over treating possible injuries from the fire?

WebFire;1428591 wrote: In 50 minutes I could have 12+ fire departments (more if needed) and law enforcement from 3 counties, plus OSP, on scene. There really is no excuse.

gut;1428603 wrote:Ehhhh, it's TX....Neighboring towns are all 15-20 miles or more away, all with small volunteer FD (probably with the exception of Waco). Seems like a very tight timetable to get everyone there and dispatch all those resources to do all that before it blows up.

WebFire;1428616 wrote:That could be true. Every area is different. But if they knew the potential as much as you say any average Joe would, then isolation and evac should have been the priority.

Fly4Fun;1428623 wrote:We get it, you don't believe that some of us would be smart enough to realize that a fire at a fertilizer plant could possibly be dangerous and we wouldn't want to hang around and find out what happens.

OR, it's possible that we're not idiots.

WebFire;1428629 wrote:Not at all what I said. I am saying people see the video and then determine they would have been farther away. In reality, those people would have thought they were plenty far away.

Hindsight is 20/20.

Fly4Fun;1428639 wrote:I understand the point you're trying to make. But I think you're also just assuming that some people wouldn't make the connection in their mind that fertilizer can easily be made into dangerous bombs, so there is something potentially explosive about it. Any person could make that connection if they remembered the OKC bombing.

reclegend22;1428647 wrote:I'm not sure where I stand on it, but I do know that if I lived in the area and knew that it was a chemical plant on fire with potential hazardous materials in the air, I'd be getting the hell out and quick. Then again, I am afraid of being anywhere near almost all chemicals and try to avoid anything that can blind or kill me at all costs. Which is weird because I was a smoker for about threes years in college. But they couldn't kill me since they made me "cool."

WebFire;1428656 wrote:You might have a little heightened awareness about the place being there, but to be honest I think you give too much credit to people. There are hazardous places all around that people drive by everyday and don't think a thing of it. Just in my little town, we have a "factory" that makes aircraft parts for the gov't, and it is a fire/explosion hazard. 1/4 the town probably works there. We also have a dynamite storage facility, and then the numerous ag places that store the anhydrous.

I can guarantee people don't have a clue and don't think a thing about these places.

reclegend22;1428661 wrote:I don't doubt that. Most people are idiots. Agreed.

WebFire;1428616 wrote:That could be true. Every area is different. But if they knew the potential as much as you say any average Joe would, then isolation and evac should have been the priority.

WebFire;1428666 wrote:Maybe I should have said that different. Most people are not up on their hazmat awareness class and do not realize the dangers of such places.

reclegend22;1428705 wrote:You shouldn't have to take a hazmat awareness class in order to know that toxic waste from a chemical fire can be hazardous to your health. lol

But your original point remains true, whether it's what you directly intended to say or not: most people have no idea about life and the proper way to react to it.

WebFire;1429032 wrote:What I am questioning is how many people know how far back?

gut;1429544 wrote:And only an idiot asks himself that question, like he's going to win a prize at Cedar Point.

The answer is A LOT farther back than I think I need to be knowing the thing can explode. Like whatever I think is a safe distance, multiplied by 10.

WebFire;1429588 wrote:Ok then.

(then it would probably have to be what you thought X 11, and we could call you a dumbass)

WebFire;1428656 wrote:... but to be honest I think you give too much credit to people....I can guarantee people don't have a clue and don't think a thing about these places.

gut;1429595 wrote:LOL, and technically he was MAYBE a safe distance away (seems like the kid may have suffered a blown ear drum). I don't know if the nitrate tank had instead gone off if it would have been worse.

I tend to think if you tell people a building is going to explode, MOST would choose to be more than 400 yards away. Heck, Mythbusters has much smaller explosions than that and they go several hundred yards away behind a blast screen.

WebFire;1430062 wrote: As to your second paragraph, no one said "hey this is going to explode."

gut;1430077 wrote:I get that. Doesn't need to be said for people with a little common sense. I thought "fertilizer BOMB" was fairly common knowledge.