This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/18/texas-fertiliser-plant-explosion-texas
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 3 | Version 4 |
|---|---|
| Fertilizer plant explosion punctuates timeless calm of West-comma-Texas | Fertilizer plant explosion punctuates timeless calm of West-comma-Texas |
| (4 months later) | |
| Locals call it West-comma-Texas, and that is exactly what it once was: a punctuation mark. These days there is no need for most travelers, speeding along I-35 between Dallas, Waco and Austin, to pause in this town of fewer than 3,000 people, which was founded in the 1860s as a stagecoach stop by an entrepreneur named Thomas M West and which was formerly known as Bold Springs. | Locals call it West-comma-Texas, and that is exactly what it once was: a punctuation mark. These days there is no need for most travelers, speeding along I-35 between Dallas, Waco and Austin, to pause in this town of fewer than 3,000 people, which was founded in the 1860s as a stagecoach stop by an entrepreneur named Thomas M West and which was formerly known as Bold Springs. |
| On Thursday, the catastrophic impact of Wednesday's explosion at West's fertilizer plant was not easily visible from most parts of town. Police had shut roads, to prevent anyone getting within half a mile of the blast site. On an overcast, cold and windy day, there was no sign of a massive smoke cloud mushrooming into the sky, as there was the night before; no flames raging far into the air and turning the twilight from dull gray to hellish hues of orange, red and yellow. | On Thursday, the catastrophic impact of Wednesday's explosion at West's fertilizer plant was not easily visible from most parts of town. Police had shut roads, to prevent anyone getting within half a mile of the blast site. On an overcast, cold and windy day, there was no sign of a massive smoke cloud mushrooming into the sky, as there was the night before; no flames raging far into the air and turning the twilight from dull gray to hellish hues of orange, red and yellow. |
| Instead, American Red Cross and news media vehicles cruised the streets among the usual steady stream of pick-up trucks. Around a quarter of the stores bore the scars of disaster, their windows boarded up, many closed. The crunch beneath your shoes was the shattered glass that lined the sidewalks. When the wind blew a certain way, the acrid air scraped the back of your throat. | Instead, American Red Cross and news media vehicles cruised the streets among the usual steady stream of pick-up trucks. Around a quarter of the stores bore the scars of disaster, their windows boarded up, many closed. The crunch beneath your shoes was the shattered glass that lined the sidewalks. When the wind blew a certain way, the acrid air scraped the back of your throat. |
| Criss-crossed by three rail tracks, West exudes the kind of decrepit frontier charm typical in small Texas towns that have a little history. Half the businesses in West seem to nod towards to the place's past as a haven for Czech settlers. Westfest, a Czech festival, is held each Labor Day weekend; the town claims to be the "Czech heritage capital of Texas" and even, referring to a kind of pastry, "home of the official Kolache of the Texas legislature". The town's affectionate nickname came about to avoid geographical confusion – when spoken, no-one ever heard the comma in West, Texas. | Criss-crossed by three rail tracks, West exudes the kind of decrepit frontier charm typical in small Texas towns that have a little history. Half the businesses in West seem to nod towards to the place's past as a haven for Czech settlers. Westfest, a Czech festival, is held each Labor Day weekend; the town claims to be the "Czech heritage capital of Texas" and even, referring to a kind of pastry, "home of the official Kolache of the Texas legislature". The town's affectionate nickname came about to avoid geographical confusion – when spoken, no-one ever heard the comma in West, Texas. |
| Standing outside his family's restaurant, Nors Sausage and Burger House, shivering in the strange spring chill, Matt Nors reflected on his sister Whitney's escape. She lives with her young child only a couple of blocks from the plant. Or, lived: Nors fears that his sister's house has been wrecked. "My sister was really close to it. I haven't seen the house but supposedly it's demolished," he said. | Standing outside his family's restaurant, Nors Sausage and Burger House, shivering in the strange spring chill, Matt Nors reflected on his sister Whitney's escape. She lives with her young child only a couple of blocks from the plant. Or, lived: Nors fears that his sister's house has been wrecked. "My sister was really close to it. I haven't seen the house but supposedly it's demolished," he said. |
| He had been making dinner on Wednesday night, at his home a couple of miles away, when the plant exploded. "The first thing that went into my mind was a nuclear bomb. I was standing in my garage flipping meat on the grill. The shockwave felt like somebody hit me in the gut," he said. | He had been making dinner on Wednesday night, at his home a couple of miles away, when the plant exploded. "The first thing that went into my mind was a nuclear bomb. I was standing in my garage flipping meat on the grill. The shockwave felt like somebody hit me in the gut," he said. |
| Nors' father, Bernie, lives five miles from West. A field backs on to his property. "When it blew up you could see the shockwave hit the wheat field, boom," he said. Several first responders are feared to have perished. Bernie Nors was close friends with four of them. West is the sort of town where everyone seems to be friends with everybody else. | Nors' father, Bernie, lives five miles from West. A field backs on to his property. "When it blew up you could see the shockwave hit the wheat field, boom," he said. Several first responders are feared to have perished. Bernie Nors was close friends with four of them. West is the sort of town where everyone seems to be friends with everybody else. |
| "They were fighting the fire when it blew up," he said, his voice wavering. He rushed to his daughter's house and searched the wreckage, in case she was trapped beneath, but Whitney and her child had already left. | "They were fighting the fire when it blew up," he said, his voice wavering. He rushed to his daughter's house and searched the wreckage, in case she was trapped beneath, but Whitney and her child had already left. |
| Matt Nors said: "West is really close-knit. Real family-oriented. Something like this happens, there's no shortage of help." | Matt Nors said: "West is really close-knit. Real family-oriented. Something like this happens, there's no shortage of help." |
| 'People were running every which way' | 'People were running every which way' |
| When the blast came, battering the town with the force of a small earthquake, Maria Galvan was shopping at the Walmart in Hillsboro, 10 miles north. She said that shoppers panicked as goods were hurled from the shelves. "We thought it was lightning that hit. People were running every which way," she said. | When the blast came, battering the town with the force of a small earthquake, Maria Galvan was shopping at the Walmart in Hillsboro, 10 miles north. She said that shoppers panicked as goods were hurled from the shelves. "We thought it was lightning that hit. People were running every which way," she said. |
| Two doors down from Czech Point Collectibles and Antiques, Galvan runs a thrift store on West's main drag, Oak Street. At 8.20am on Thursday she arrived at work to find the windows shattered, glass carpeting the floor and all the ceiling panels on the ground, amid the clothes racks and bric-a-brac. "It was all busted in, glass everywhere," she said. "Very, very bad … I'd fixed up my window for Mother's Day, it's all messed up." | Two doors down from Czech Point Collectibles and Antiques, Galvan runs a thrift store on West's main drag, Oak Street. At 8.20am on Thursday she arrived at work to find the windows shattered, glass carpeting the floor and all the ceiling panels on the ground, amid the clothes racks and bric-a-brac. "It was all busted in, glass everywhere," she said. "Very, very bad … I'd fixed up my window for Mother's Day, it's all messed up." |
| Standing across the street, clasping a broom, Joyce Beaubien worried that she had not been able to make contact with a friend and former neighbour who works at the plant. | Standing across the street, clasping a broom, Joyce Beaubien worried that she had not been able to make contact with a friend and former neighbour who works at the plant. |
| "I haven't been able to get in touch with her," said Beaubien, a retired secretary who works part-time at the Village Shoppe. | "I haven't been able to get in touch with her," said Beaubien, a retired secretary who works part-time at the Village Shoppe. |
| People here are really shocked. The firefighters are all volunteers, they all live here, their families are here, it's just so devastating to people who've lived here all their lives. It's really devastating for a little town like this where nothing ever happens –except sometimes a person might get a little drunk. | People here are really shocked. The firefighters are all volunteers, they all live here, their families are here, it's just so devastating to people who've lived here all their lives. It's really devastating for a little town like this where nothing ever happens –except sometimes a person might get a little drunk. |
| A glance at Google Maps will show you that modern housing sprouted extremely close to the plant, even though rural Texas rarely wants for space. "The fertilizer plant was out in the country and they just built around it when I guess they shouldn't have," Beaubien said. | A glance at Google Maps will show you that modern housing sprouted extremely close to the plant, even though rural Texas rarely wants for space. "The fertilizer plant was out in the country and they just built around it when I guess they shouldn't have," Beaubien said. |
| Matt Nors never had any worries about the plant's location – quite the opposite, since agriculture is key to the local community. It only takes five minutes to drive through West and reach vast, gently undulating fields, speckled with ranches. "It's never been a concern. This was never even a thought, an issue," Nors said. | Matt Nors never had any worries about the plant's location – quite the opposite, since agriculture is key to the local community. It only takes five minutes to drive through West and reach vast, gently undulating fields, speckled with ranches. "It's never been a concern. This was never even a thought, an issue," Nors said. |
| Sarah Gardner sounded optimistic that everyone in the 22-unit apartment complex owned by her grandparents was still alive, though the building is only a couple of blocks from the plant. Was. Gardner said that it looked like the apartments were "a total loss", just a shell. | Sarah Gardner sounded optimistic that everyone in the 22-unit apartment complex owned by her grandparents was still alive, though the building is only a couple of blocks from the plant. Was. Gardner said that it looked like the apartments were "a total loss", just a shell. |
| Norma Talbott arrived with Vi, her 83-year-old mother-in-law. Talbott drove from Plano to look after Vi, whose house was effectively destroyed, though she suffered only a cut and bruises. A neighbor helped her flee. "She has no doors, no windows, no ceiling. We have not been allowed back in and I don't know when we will be," Talbott said. "She has the clothes on her back and her wallet." | Norma Talbott arrived with Vi, her 83-year-old mother-in-law. Talbott drove from Plano to look after Vi, whose house was effectively destroyed, though she suffered only a cut and bruises. A neighbor helped her flee. "She has no doors, no windows, no ceiling. We have not been allowed back in and I don't know when we will be," Talbott said. "She has the clothes on her back and her wallet." |
| Today in West, that is enough to count her among the lucky ones. | Today in West, that is enough to count her among the lucky ones. |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. | Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |