Explosion in West, Texas

Over at LG&M Erik Loomis has an interesting discussion of the explosion last night at the fertilizer plant in West, Texas.

I heard about it just as I was going to bed, and I knew it would be bad -- fertilizer, as we've all known since McVeigh, being equal to bomb.

When I heard that this plant was right next to a middle school and a nursing home and apartment houses and neighborhoods, my reaction (like yours, I imagine) was WTF?

And you might remember that I grew up in Louisiana, and that my high school was right next to a chemical plant.  So I know from ridiculous city planning.

But a middle school next to a fertilizer plant?

Jesus.

In Loomis's post, there's a link to a father who captures the explosion on camera.  His little girl is with him at the time, so it's fairly horrific -- they're not nearly far enough away, and they get slammed by the blast, and she's terrified -- so be warned if you watch it.  She's fine, by the way, not hurt at all; her hearing came back a short time later.

Update: Here's another video from the scene.  Also pretty appalling.