Desperate search underway for firefighters missing after devastating Texas fertilizer plant explosion that killed up to 15... but town mayor warns there is 'no sign of life'



Huge explosion ripped through a fertilizer plant near the town of West, Texas at 7.50pm on Wednesday



As many as six firefighters who had responded to a fire before the explosion have been reported missing

179 people have been hospitalized and 24 are in critical condition, including children



Mayor: 'We've got a lot of people who are hurt, and there's a lot of people who aren't gonna be here tomorrow'

Records show the plant insisted there was no risk of fire - and it was cited in 2006 for failing to have a permit

The owner, Donald Adair, said no employees were there at the time and he does not know what caused the fire



U.S. Geological Survey: Blast produced ground motion equivalent to that of a magnitude 2.1 earthquake


Search and rescue teams have launched a frantic hunt for as many as six missing firefighters among the rubble of a Texas fertilizer plant which exploded on Wednesday night, killing up to 15 people and inflicting horrific injuries on hundreds more.

As rescuers searched the smoking remnants of the small town of West on Thursday for anyone still trapped in the debris, Mayor Tommy Muska told CNN that so far there have been no signs of life among smashed houses and decimated apartment blocks.

The firefighters, who responded to a fire at West Fertilizer Co. on Wednesday night before it suddenly exploded into a fireball, are reportedly missing and feared dead, including Joey Pustejovsky, the city secretary who also volunteers as a firefighter.

On Thursday morning, authorities said they believed three or four firefighters were missing, but now at least six families have expressed worry over missing loved ones, including Brent Bridges, who said his father, Morris, was a first responder who has not returned.



As the dust settled on the small community of 2,800 people on Thursday morning, photographs revealed destroyed homes and debris-strewn roads in a four- or five-block radius around a massive charred crater where the plant once stood.

The blast, which was felt 50 miles away and registered as a magnitude 2.1 earthquake, destroyed as many as 75 homes and buildings, leveled an apartment complex, forced a nursing home to evacuate its residents and blanketed the area in a cloud of toxic fumes.

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Missing: Volunteer firefighter Joey Pustejovsky, pictured left with his wife, is reportedly among those missing following the massive explosion in West. Right, Morris Bridges, who was also a first responder following the blast, has been reported missing my his family



Devastation: Firefighters conduct search and rescue of an apartment destroyed by an explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, which has killed 15

Tragic: As many as 75 businesses and homes in West are believed to have been destroyed by the massive blast around 8pm on Wednesday

Hunt: Search and rescue teams are now going door to door to check for people who could have been injured in the massive explosion

Wasteland: The remains of a fertilizer plant sits destroyed after the explosion on Thursday morning. Authorities do not yet know what caused the blaze

After the extensive damage caused by the explosion - thought to be caused by dangerous anhydrous ammonia igniting in the heat of the fire - T exas Gov. Rick Perry declared a state of emergency for the county and dispatched National Guard troops for assistance.

Waco police Sgt. William Patrick Swanton described ongoing search-and-rescue efforts as 'tedious and time-consuming', noting that crews had to shore up much of the wreckage before going in.

Searchers 'have not gotten to the point of no return where they don't think that there's anybody still alive', Swanton said. Investigators awaited clearance to enter the blast zone for clues to what set off the plant's huge stockpile of volatile chemicals.

'It's still too hot to get in there,' Franceska Perot, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, told the Associated Press.



As many as 179 people have been treated for injuries in hospitals, but Sergeant Swanton from Waco's police department warned that he expects the total number of deaths and injuries to rise as emergency teams carry out their search.

Aftermath: The remains of the the West Fertilizer Co. plant smolder in the rain on Thursday after a massive explosion on Wednesday night Precautions: Two workers wearing protective clothing scour the area near the exploded fertilizer plant in West on Thursday morning Smouldering: An aerial photo shows a view of homes on the North side of the fertilizer plant explosion site on Thursday morning

Blast zone: The West Fertilizer Co. is close to a school, nursing home and many residences, and up to 75 are believed to have been destroyed

Location: The town of West, which has around 2,800 residents and just three ambulances, was 'overwhelmed' by the explosion, residents said The tragedy raised fears of another U.S. terror attack just days after the Boston bombs that killed three people, and comes ahead of the 20th anniversary of the Waco siege, but Mr Swanton said the blast was more likely to be a terrible industrial accident. 'They are still getting injured folks out and they are evacuating people from their homes,' Mr Swanton said in a press conference this morning. 'At this point, we don't know a number that have been killed. ... I think we will see those fatalities increase as we get toward the morning.' Swanton said a minimum of 400 emergency responders arrived at the scene on Wednesday night. Officials said they were treating it as a crime scene. 'We are not indicating that it is a crime, but we don't know,' Swanton said. 'What that means to us is that until we know that it is an industrial accident, we will work it as a crime scene. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is conducting the main investigation.' He said there is not believed to be any hazard from smoke or air particles, and firefighters believe they have the blaze in the plant under control.

Smoke cloud: A resident in West tweeted these pictures, adding: 'Mushroom cloud from my front yard in West right after the explosion. Pretty intense situation'



Emergency treatment: Victims from the West fertilizer plant explosion are wheeled into Hillcrest Baptist Medical Hospital in Waco, Texas

Makeshift treatment: Injured people being treated on the flood-lit the high school football field turned into a staging area after the blast















Makeshift treatment: Injured people being treated on the flood-lit the high school football field turned into a staging area after the blast





Desperate: School buses were used to ferry residents away from the scene of the explosion. Sergeant W. Patrick Swanton from Waco¿s police department said at least 160 people have been treated for injuries at local hospitals The toll of devastation included 50 to 75 houses, an apartment complex with about 50 units that one state police officer said was reduced to 'a skeleton,' a middle school and the West Rest Haven Nursing Home, from which first-responders evacuated 133 patients, some in wheelchairs Mayor Muska said rescuers are now carrying out house-by-house search and rescue in the area around the plants. Texas Department of Public Safety D.L. Wilson said the damage was comparable to the destruction caused by the 1995 bomb blast that destroyed the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Rescue efforts have been hampered due to hazardous chemicals in the air following the explosion. First responders were seen wearing respirators to protect themselves. A thunderstorm has been forecast, which could lead to stronger winds pushing the mist - which can cause significant irritation to eyes and skin, and cause breathing problems - around the area. Those north of the blast have been told to stay inside and keep their windows shut to stop the fumes creeping inside their homes. Although officials have turned off all the gas, they evacuated half the town because they were worried another tank at the facility might explode. Blast: According to eyewitnesses firefighters were attending the blaze when there was a sudden explosion - three firefighters are dead according to authorities

Blaze: The blast ripped through West Fertilizer at 7.50pm and fires continue to burn at the scene Search: The missing volunteer firefighters and a policeman were attending a blaze at the plant at about 7:50pm local time last night it suddenly exploded into a fireball - it thought to be caused by anhydrous ammonia igniting in the heat of the fire Terrifying: A fire blazes in a home near to the plant - some people are thought still to be trapped in buildings and a number of firefighters are reported missing



VIDEO Fire, explosion and then...'Dad, I can't hear'. Heartbreaking moment girl and father film blast

There were subsequent explosions around 10 p.m., according to WFAA. While the cause of the explosions has not yet been reported, a dispatcher was heard in emergency audio recordings warning crews to move away from chemicals in tanks that had not exploded.



Ben Stratmann, a spokesman for Texas State Sen. Brian Birdwell, said: 'What we are hearing is that there is one fertilizer tank that is still intact at the plant, and there are evacuations in place to make sure everyone gets away from the area safely in case of another explosion,' CNN reported.



If the winds turn, the other half of the town will have to be evacuated as well.

As the small town struggles to comprehend the situation, residents and eyewitnesses have described shocking scenes of destruction.

'It's total chaos,' West City Councilwoman Cheryl Marak told ABC News . She said the explosion killed her dog and felled her home, which is about two blocks from the plant.

Glow: The remains of a silo that was part of a fertilizer plant burns and smokes Thursday morning after the plant exploded on Wednesday night

Remains: A destroyed home burns early Thursday morning as rescue teams search for victims and go from door-to-door to check on residents who could have been hurt

Damage: Other homes and businesses lost windows in the impact of the glass in West, Texas on Wednesday night 'With the explosions, the whole street lifted up. It was like a massive bomb went off. It demolished both my houses, my mother's and mine. I think everything around us is pretty much just gone.' Dr. George Smith, speaking with cuts and bloody injuries on his face, described apocalyptic scenes as the roof fell in: 'The windows came in on me, the roof came in on me, the ceiling came in and I worked my way out to go get some more help. He told NBC News: 'Of course, we lost all communication because the power went out. 'The ambulance station is badly damaged, the whole 1500 block of Stillmeadow, which is the closest street to it.

'My son lives there - he was on the second floor when it fell down, it would have fallen on him. That whole street is gone.' Local residents, some more than a mile away, reported windows being blown out and hearing an explosion that sounded 'like a bomb'.

Local resident Bill Bohannan told the Waco Tribune that the blast knocked him off his feet. He said: 'I was standing next to my car with my fiancee, waiting for my parents to come out and (the plant) exploded.z

To the rescue: Emergency workers assist an elderly person at an emergency triage area in a local school stadium in West, Texas



Evacuated: People push wheel chairs in front of the damaged nursing home, frin where 133 residents were evacuated on Wednesday night after the explosion Destruction: Rescue workers pass a damaged apartment complex after a nearby fertilizer plant exploded in Texas Search: The mayor of West, Tommy Muska confirmed the figure of around 160 injured people taken to hospitals 'It knocked us into the car... Every house within about four blocks is blown apart.' Emergency audio also reveals the panic and chaos among firefighters and others at the scene, ABC reported. 'We need every ambulance we can get this way,' one dispatcher says. 'A bomb just went off. It's pretty bad.' 'Firefighters down,' another said. 'There has been an explosion.' In the hours after the blast, many of the town's residents wandered the dark and windy streets searching for shelter.

Among them was Julie Zahirniako, who said she and her son, Anthony, had been playing at a school playground near the fertilizer plant when the explosion hit. She was walking the track, he was kicking a football. The explosion threw her son 4 feet in the air, breaking his ribs. She said she saw people running from the nursing home and the roof of the school lifted into the air.

'The fire was so high,' she said. 'It was just as loud as it could be. The ground and everything was shaking.'



Grim: Today firefighters are painstakingly combing through houses, many reduced to rubble

Search: Firefighters use flashlights to search a destroyed apartment complex looking for residents



Precautions: Half the town has been evacuated as as a result of the explosion Trapped: Reports said a nursing home had collapsed in the explosion and some people were believed trapped inside

Rescue: Earth moving equipment rolls through the downtown area in the middle of the night after explosion Shudder: The blast was so massive that it registered as a magnitude 2.1 earthquake, as this graph from the US Geological Survey shows Erick Perez, 21, of West, was playing basketball at a nearby school when the fire started.

He and his friends thought nothing of it at first, but about a half-hour later, the smoke changed color. The blast threw him, his nephew and others to the ground and showered the area with hot embers, shrapnel and debris.

'The explosion was like nothing I've ever seen before,' Perez said. 'This town is hurt really bad.' There was no immediate official word on what sparked the explosion as emergency personnel assisted victims and doused the flames. U.S. Representative Bill Flores, whose district includes West, said he doubted any foul play was involved. In a morning press conference, S erg eant Swanton said he had no details on the number of people who work at the plant, which was cited by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in 2006 for failing to obtain or to qualify for a permit. He added that, following the explosion, a 'small amount' of looting was reported overnight. 'There are unidentified people in the neighborhood' around the plant and looters are likely people 'coming in from the street', he said.

Gov. Rick Perry called the explosion 'a truly nightmare scenario for the community' and said he had been in touch with President Barack Obama, who promised his administration's assistance with operations on the ground.

The force of the blast shattered windows of buildings in the surrounding area - some of the injuries were caused by flying shards of glass

Vigil: Baylor University student's hold a candle light vigil outside Waco Hall for the victim's of the West fertilizer plant explosion

Update: Waco Police spokesperson William Swanton speaks at a media conference on Thursday morning but could only provide limited information

Support: Gov. Rick Perry called the explosion 'a truly nightmare scenario for the community' and said he had been in touch with Obama, who promised his administration's assistance

President Obama also released a statement on Thursday, passing on his condolences and prayers.



'A tight-knit community has been shaken, and good, hard-working people have lost their lives,' he said. 'I want to thank the first responders who worked tirelessly through the night to contain the situation and treat the wounded.

'My Administration, through FEMA and other agencies, is in close contact with our state and local partners on the ground to make sure there are no unmet needs as search and rescue and response operations continue.

'West is a town that many Texans hold near and dear to their hearts, and as residents continue to respond to this tragedy, they will have the support of the American people.'



The disaster even drew condolences from Pope Francis, who wrote on his Twitter account: 'Please join me in praying for the victims of the explosion in Texas and their families.'

In 2001, an explosion at a chemical plant killed 31 people and injured more than 2,000 in Toulouse, France. The blast occurred in a hangar containing 300 tons of ammonium nitrate, which can be used for both fertilizer and explosives.



The explosion came 10 days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the U.S., and raised fears at the time it was linked. A 2006 report blamed the blast on negligence.



For those trying to locate their family members please call: 254-826-4115. Information hotline: 254-202-1100