fertilizer plant explosion News

Texas Fire Marshal Preaches Safety and Training After Fertilizer Plant Blast

When a fertilizer plant exploded in a small Texas town, killing 15 people and decimating homes and schools, it became Chris Connealy’s responsibility to stop anything like it from happening again. The state fire marshal has spent the last eight …

Dewhurst Orders Reviews Following West Explosion

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has ordered Texas senators to review safety regulations and emergency response procedures in the aftermath of the fertilizer plant explosion in West. The Republican who oversees the state Senate called on committees to study how to …

University of Texas Chemical Safety Program to Lose Funding

Months after a fertilizer plant explosion in Central Texas killed 15 people, including 10 first responders, officials at a university-based program that provides information about chemical risks to firefighters say they’re about to lose funding. Federal funding for E-Plan, based …

Order to Tighten Chemical Safety After Blasts Issued

President Barack Obama issued an executive order aimed at reducing risks that hazardous chemicals pose to workers and communities, citing the April fatal fertilizer plant explosion in Texas. Explosions such as the blast that killed more than a dozen people …

Texas Has Not Surveyed Injuries From Plant Blast

More than three months after a Texas fertilizer plant exploded killing 15 people and hurting hundreds, the state still has not started surveying blast injuries. Federal and state officials suggest such a study could increase the understanding about how many …

Texas Mutual Donates to IIAT Foundation to Assist West, Texas Victims

Texas Mutual Insurance Company announced that it is donating $5,234 toward the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT) Trusted Choice Foundation relief fund for West, Texas. The money will help restore West and its fire services following the explosion at …

Texas Lawmakers: Put Dangerous Chemical Site Info Online

There are 16 fertilizer production sites in Texas like the one that exploded in West, but authorities aren’t clear how many of those might be located near schools or other residential centers, top state officials said Monday. Texas Department of …

Texas Law Change Would Allow Reappraisals After Disaster

Hundreds of property owners whose homes and businesses were damaged by the earth-rattling fertilizer plant explosion that devastated the town of West in April may catch a break on their property taxes under recently approved legislation. A bill awaiting Gov. …

Help Could Be Available for Uninsured West Losses

Disaster help may be available for losses not covered by insurance in a Central Texas town recovering from a fertilizer plant explosion. The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Monday urged survivors of the April 17 blast in West to check …

Lawyer: Texas Paramedic Denies Explosives Charge

A Texas paramedic arrested on charges of possessing bomb-making material will plead not guilty and had no connection to a fertilizer plant explosion that killed 14 people last month, his defense attorney said Saturday. Authorities arrested Bryce Reed on May …