AN UNDERCOVERED STORY: Dispatches from West, Texas: What the Incredible Explosion Felt Like.

This morning, Evelyn Moon says, she and her husband David talked their way past blockades to get access to the West Rest Haven nursing home, since David is a former president and current board member of the facility. They found half the building in complete ruins. David reports that while every resident was evacuated and relocated, one person was killed. The building was near full capacity and was one of the largest employers within the community.

Bill Pierce, son-in-law of the Moons, came down around 12 a.m. to help with the damage and check in on friends and family. This big blast came from a relatively small plant, he says: “Everyone seems to think this was a major fertilizer operation. It’s relatively small potatoes. This was not a big facility at all—just an area where they stored chemical compounds. I believe there were two tanks and one was still intact.”

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