Rod Aydelotte / AP
The huge blast rocked a small Texas town causing an unknown number
of deaths and destroying nearby homes.
of deaths and destroying nearby homes.
At least five to 15 people were killed and more than 160 wounded when a large fertilizer plant exploded, rocking the small Texas town of West late Wednesday and destroying dozens of homes and businesses, police said.
Firefighters, including local volunteers, were battling a blaze at the plant at the time of the blast, which caused a ground tremor equivalent to a magnitude-2.1 earthquake, the USGS said, and sent up a plume of toxic smoke.
There was no indication of criminal activity, Waco, Texas, police Sgt. William Patrick Swanton said early Thursday, although the area was being treated as a crime scene as a precautionary measure.
Amateur video demonstrates sheer size and power of explosion that rocked a fertilizer plant in west Texas.
"It was a huge explosion," he said. "It reached blocks, if not miles, in its devastating effect. ... My guess is going to be that ... we will see the casualty rate rise and the injury rate rise." The blast decimated a five- to-six block radius around the plant, damaging about 50 to 75 homes in the area, a nursing home, and a middle school.
Between three and five firefighters were still missing, he told reporters gathered in the town south of Dallas.
"We know fire was there, we know law enforcement was there assisting with traffic, and I believe there were EMS ...," Swanton said.
Resident Sammy Chavez was injured in the blast but ran to the West Rest Haven nursing home, which was being evacuated before the explosion, to help, he told KXAS.
“I just saw the explosion and then after that I took off running and then I saw the West home, and people you know were buried under the West home, the West home was gone,” Chavez said. “It was gone. The school’s gone. The apartments are gone. It’s horrible.”
Resident Derrick Hurtt was recording the fire from his truck with daughter Khloey Hurtt when he caught the earth-shaking explosion on his camera.
“I’m pretty sure it lifted the truck off the ground. It just blew me over on top of her,” Hurtt said on TODAY. “It all happened so quick that things kind of went black for a moment.”
An explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas Wednesday night leaves hundreds injured as emergency officials respond to the situation.
“It was a pretty horrific scene, some of the injuries we saw,” he said.
Mayor Tommy Muska, who is a firefighter in addition to being mayor, was on his way toward the inferno at the time of the blast but was still a few blocks away.
"It blew my hat off, and then I heard it. I felt it before I heard it," Muska said. "It was a very powerful explosion."
There are only about 2,700 residents in West, which lies about 20 miles north of Waco.
"It's a lot of devastation. I've never seen anything like this," McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara told Reuters. "It looks like a war zone with all the debris."
Baptist Medical Center in Waco said 66 patients have been treated at its trauma center. Those with lesser injuries had been discharged, while others had gone into surgery. The hospital said 38 patients were considered "seriously injured" and nine burn victims had been rushed to a Dallas burn center.
Providence Hospital in Waco said it had received 65 patients, many with abrasions and broken bones and some in respiratory distress, apparently because of chemical or smoke inhalation.
It is the “most devastating thing that’s happened to this community,” West Mayor Tommy Muska said at a news conference. "We need your prayers."
Mariah Garcia/photo via NBCDFW.com
Smoke rises from the scene of a fertilizer plant explosion near Waco, Texas, on Wednesday, April 17.
"There’s a lot of people that are hurt. And there’s a lot of people that I’m sure are not going to be here tomorrow. ... It is a cut across our hearts."
With the cause of the fire and subsequent explosion unknown, the area was being treated as a crime scene, with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives leading the investigation, Swanton said.
He added, however, that "nothing at this point indicates that we have had criminal activity."
Initial fears about dangerous fumes from the fire had been allayed by about 6 a.m. ET., with Swanton saying "air quality at this point is not an issue."
Texas Gov. Rick Perry said in a statement that state resources were being made available to local authorities.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of West, and the first responders on the scene," he said.
A White House official said the Obama administration was aware of the situation and monitoring local and state response through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
NBC News’ Matthew DeLuca and Reuters contributed to this story.
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