West Fertilizer Company Explosion

On April 17, 2013, an ammonium nitrate explosion occurred at the West Fertilizer Company storage and distribution facility in West, Texas, eighteen miles (29 km) north of Waco while emergency services personnel were responding to a fire at the facility. Fifteen people were killed, more than 160 were injured, and more than 150 buildings were damaged or destroyed. Investigators have confirmed that ammonium nitrate was the trigger for the explosion, but the cause of the initial fire is as yet unknown

As a result of the massive explosion, the West Fertilizer Company plant was obliterated, and heavy damage and further destruction was caused to surrounding areas. Numbers for people dead or injured varied initially.