West Fertilizer plant could have been prevented.

By Luara Rice, KUT News

WEST– The Texas State Fire Marshal’s Office says the deaths of 12 people responding to last year’s explosion at the West Fertilizer plant could have been prevented.

KUT’s Laura Rice takes a look at a new report on the explosion.

The Fire Marshal’s report released last night says the first responders killed in last April’s Fertilizer Plant explosion in the city of West were not prepared or equipped to deal with the very dangerous situation.  The report says that’s not because they failed to perform their duties as they had been trained… but because there was a “systemic deficiency in the training and preparation” of the firefighters.

For one, they were responding to the fire as if it were in a house – instead of a large and complicated commercial property.
The Fire Marshal’s office says all emergency crews should have also a specific plan for responding to situations at facilities containing hazardous materials such as the ammonium nitrate at the West Fertilizer plant.  The report also says if the plant would have had a working sprinkler system… the fire may have been controlled.
Laura Rice, KUT News.