Its the lead story on the tv news here in Australia.
Ammonium Nitrate & Urea plant I would think.
You basically have all the ingredients for a high explosive. The fire just made sure all was mixed well.
They reported that the explosion registered as a 2.1 magnitude earth quake!! Easy to understand why not many initial reports ~ any one covering the story of the fire would have not survived the explosion to report on it !!

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Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club group

I no longer question authority, I annoy authority. More effect, less effort....

1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving

Where will the area get Kolacheese today?

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BENZ THERE DONE THAThttp://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...c/progress.gif
15 VW Passat TDI
00 E420
98 E300 DT
97 E420 Donor Car - NEED PARTS? PM ME!
97 S500
97 E300D
86 Holden Jackaroo Turbo D
86 300SDL
(o\|/o)

..... or sausage?

__________________
2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

One of the pics of the explosion plume (about a mile away) was taken right in front of the Czech Stop which was unharmed. We never miss stopping there on the way south.

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62 220sb
67 250S
72 280SE 4.5
74 280C
77 300D
82 240D
85 190E 2.3
86 300E RIP 12/28/09
85 300SD
92 300D 2.5
00 E320 Current
Over 1,000,000 miles in Benzes, Since66

....and a whole passel of BMW 2002 and Tii

...sounds abuot right.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

If anyone ever gets to this part of the world they should stop in at this place. At one time it was popular with Entertainers that worked the clubs in an Austin, Fort Worth/Dallas, Oklahoma City, Tulsa and then back to Austin routine. Maybe it still is.

It was open 24/7, so after playing a gig, loading up and hitting the road from Austin it was a nice place to stop at 4 or 5 am.

I bet they are busy today since they are on the Interstate which is on the other side of town from the blast.

My first 'visit' to West was in 1961 when my Studebaker blew a freeze plug. It has grown a bit since then, but not by much.

Some other area details....., and trivia.

Go back and read what Air and Road wrote about the place. His comments are right on the money.

The news has mentioned that some of the injured were taken to Temple for treatment. Temple has a large medical facility called Scott and White that treats the untreatable. If you are in Texas and cannot be treated by even the best facilities you are sent to Scott and White by referral only. You cannot admit yourself.

It is also the go-to spot for any large disaster in that part of the world since they are set up to deal with anything that might come through the door.

Temple is something like 70 miles from West, but it is still the best place to deal with a lot of injured people quickly.

The time lag in getting reporters to the area is understandable. West is south of Dallas by about 60 miles, more or less, and news teams would first have to assemble and then drive there. And really, until the blast, this was just a big fire in a small town so what's the rush?

West also once had a joint called 'The Night Owl' which is one of the places Willie Nelson got his start, but it went out of business years ago when the lady that owned the place died. It was a real 'neon moon' kind of place since the only interior light seemed to come from the neon beer signs.

I second the comment regarding Scott & White. One of the best clinics in the world. I had surgery there at the age of 7. That was in the old hospital on the wide boulevard in the city where the huge locomotive sat in the median. It is now in a railroad museum nearby.

Yes when Willie Nelson was a kid in Abbott, West was the "big city" that he went to. Tells you about the size of Abbott.

As far as the time lag for reporters, the network news helicopters base at Grand Prairie airport. I would think that one of those ships could make it to West in probably about 45 minutes flight time. Problem is, at that time of night, I expect they were put away and the crews were having supper. By the time they made it to the airport and preflighted, it's easy to see how there would be an hour and a half or two hours pass.

If one of them were still in the air that time of night and had fuel, they could have been there reasonably quickly. I don't know if the news media in Waco has a big enough market to warrant news copters.

For road vehicle based news crews, there would surely have been some there from Waco, a market big enough for a TV station, at least they used to have one. In any case, you would expect at least an hour delay from the time of the blast. The initial fire might not have been deemed adequately newsworthy to dispatch a crew.

__________________
2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

I think the OP was sarcasm but what do I know.

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Sent from an agnostic abacus

2014 C250 21,XXX my new DD ** 2013 GLK 350 18,000 Wife's new DD**

- With out god, life is everything.
- God is an ever receding pocket of scientific ignorance that's getting smaller and smaller as time moves on..." Neil DeGrasse Tyson
- You can pray for me, I'll think for you.
- When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.

So what? Can we not ponder the delay? Are you passing some new forum rules or something?

__________________
2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

thoughts and prayers go out to the family's of the deceased, missing and survivors

Am I not allowed to voice my opinion?

__________________
Sent from an agnostic abacus

2014 C250 21,XXX my new DD ** 2013 GLK 350 18,000 Wife's new DD**

- With out god, life is everything.
- God is an ever receding pocket of scientific ignorance that's getting smaller and smaller as time moves on..." Neil DeGrasse Tyson
- You can pray for me, I'll think for you.
- When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.

As long as it meets with the approval of the liberals here... oh, never mind, you already hold a prominent poistion in that club. Opine away!

__________________
2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

thoughts and prayers go out to the family's of the deceased, missing and survivors

Only in Larryworld someone saying he thought someone else was kidding is a political issue.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.