15 killed, 160 wounded in ’devastating’ Texas fertilizer plant blast

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Slideshow: Fertilizer plant explosion in Texas

Rod Aydelotte / AP

The huge blast rocked a small Texas town causing an unknown number
of deaths and destroying nearby homes.

Launch slideshow

By M. Alex Johnson, Becky Bratu and John Newland, NBC News

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.

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"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."

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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.

Texas Schools Teaching ‘Allah Is The Almighty God’

Pat Dollard 

Excerpted from WND: In the 70 percent of Texas public schools where a private curriculum has been installed, students are learning the “fact” that “Allah is the Almighty God,” charge critics of a new online curriculum that already is facing condemnation for its secrecy and restrictions on oversight.

The program, called CSCOPE, is a private venture operating under the umbrella of the Texas Education Service Center Curriculum Collaborative, whose incorporation documents state its independence from the State Board of Education of the Texas Education Agency.

Other reports previously have raised alarm over the curriculum’s depiction of the Boston Tea Party as a terrorist act on par with the 9/11 attack.

According to documentation that has leaked out, the program describes the Boston Tea Party this way: “A local militia, believed to be a terrorist organization, attacked the property of private citizens today at our nation’s busiest port. Although no one was injured in the attack, a large quantity of merchandise, considered to be valuable to its owners and loathsome to the perpetrators, was destroyed. The terrorists, dressed in disguise and apparently intoxicated, were able to escape into the night with the help of local citizens who harbor these fugitives and conceal their identities from the authorities. It is believed that the terrorist attack was a response to the policies enacted by the occupying country’s government. Even stronger policies are anticipated by the local citizens.”

There also have been reports that the curriculum – contrary to recent Supreme Court rulings – says the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the right to bear arms, is limited to state-run organizations.

“The collective right’s advocates believed that the Second Amendment did not apply to individuals; rather it recognized the right of a state to arm its militia. It recognized limited individual rights only when it was exercised by members of a functioning, organized militia while actively participating in the militia’s activities.”

Now come concerns about what critics describe as a definitively pro-Islam bias.

The critics say the studies border on proselytizing.

In one scenario, students are asked to study the tenets of Islam, and critics say the materials provided exceed impartial review of another faith, extending into requirements of conversion and moral imperatives.

A computer presentation utilized as part of a study of Islam includes information on how to convert, as well as verses denigrating other faiths.

According to excerpts, under the heading, “Who Is Allah?,” students are told:

“Allah is the Almighty God.”

“Allah alone is the Creator. He alone deserves our devout love and worship.”

Muhammad is described as having become “disillusioned with the corruption in the city and the growing gap between the urban dwellers and the Bedouins (nomadic herders).”

But there is no mention of his documented sex activities with a child or his penchant for beheading entire indigenous people groups.

CSCOPE’s geography curriculum also is being scrutinized.

A high school question on a geography test asks, “Which of the following has been a benefit of globalization?” Possible answers are as follows: a) pandemics, b) increased standard of living, c) loss of local culture, and finally, d) widespread environmental impacts.

The only “correct” answer accepted in the context of the test is “an increased standard of living.”

WND recently reported the Texas State Board of Education was hearing concerns expressed by parents.

The debate carries national significance because of the influence Texas has on textbook and curriculum publishers as the only state that adopts uniform standards. Keep reading >>

"We're not afraid to trade with the Chinese but we're afraid to trade with Cuba?" Yes, I know about the history with Castro, strained relationships and tense ...", expresa Matt Felder del Texas Farm Bureau, pero no le importa; lo que le interesa a este senor y por eso le pagan, es venderle productos agropecuarios a Cuba, para lo cual tendran que obtener convencer a banqueros que exigiran garantias leoninas o gubernamentales -no cubanas por supuesto, sino de la White House-, para que extiendan los creditos comerciales que Cuba nunca pagara.

Texas Agriculture News It's time to mend fences with Cuba