Metropolis Reality Forums - Texas Oil Refinery Explosion

Sponsored by: The Fans!

Welcome, Guest. Please Login or Register.
Nov 25^th, 2024, 11:42am

Upcoming Premiere Dates:
Survivor 23, Season premiere
Thursday, September 14 (8:00-9:30 PM, ET/PT) on CBS

Metropolis Reality Forums Ť Texas Oil Refinery Explosion ť

   Metropolis Reality Forums
   Off-Topic Forums
   In the News (Moderators: lakelady, yesteach, MediaScribe, Bumper, Isle_be_back)
   Texas Oil Refinery Explosion

Previous topic | New Topic | Next topic »

Pages: 1

Add Poll

Notify of replies

Send Topic

Author

Topic: Texas Oil Refinery Explosion (Read 195 times)

luci
ForumsNet Member

Gender:

Posts: 12045

Texas Oil Refinery Explosion
« on: Mar 24^th, 2005, 9:24am »

Quote

Modify

Refinery explosion kills 14, leaves town reeling

TEXAS CITY, Texas _ All but one of the 1,800 or so oil refinery workers have been accounted for after overnight search efforts following the thunderous blast that killed 14 and injured more than 100, officials said Thursday.

"We think we've found all the people," refinery manager Don Parus said.

BP refinery records indicate the one unaccounted-for worker checked out and left the refinery, but no one has heard from him, Parus said. Those who died were all contractors for Los Angeles-based field services company J.E. Merritt, he said.

The fiery blast Wednesday at BP's 1,200-acre plant near Houston shot flames high into the sky, forced schoolchildren to cower under their desks and showered plant grounds with ash and chunks of charred metal. Windows rattled more than five miles away.

Parus on Thursday confirmed the death toll at 14 but said further details would come from the medical examiner's office.

Firefighters doused the mangled rubble Wednesday afternoon. The plant is a 1,200-acre spread with 30 refinery units. Wednesday's refinery explosion rocked this close-knit community, focusing all attention on a horrific accident that delivered unthinkable images to thousands of Texans all too familiar with the constant cloud of a common danger.

Even from 15 blocks away, "it looked like a 500-pound bomb went off 35 years ago when I was in Vietnam," said Ernest Mathews, a mail carrier. "A ball of fire going straight up a thousand feet, with a black cloud following it."

Inside the BP plant, workers felt a sudden blow from a blast that instantaneously knocked them to the ground.

"It literally lifted you up and slammed you to the ground," said John Yarbor, who was treated at Texas City Mainland Medical Center and who bore a gash on his face. "As far as 80, 90 feet from the blast area with my back turned, I could feel the heat on me."

Plant worker Derek Lacy said that there was time for only one reaction: run.

"You didn't know how bad it was going to be or what was going to explode next," he said.

Cody Pearson described a frenzied scene: "Debris flying, flames, smoke and chaos." And when he ran outside, it got worse his wife, who was working in a nearby trailer, was running away, covered in blood. It turned out she was OK.

Mr. Mathews, the mail carrier, said the devastation was clear from half a mile away, with windows broken throughout the area.

14 killed in oil refinery blast
A constant stream of ambulances bringing in victims queued outside the hospital throughout the afternoon. At one point, rescue helicopters were hovering above, waiting for a chance to land.

After the initial chaos there was, for some, only an agonizing wait. By nightfall, about 50 people awaiting word on friends and relatives at the Mainland Medical Center were told no information would be coming soon.

Even though they know the potential for trouble nearby, some residents and people working near the sprawling industrial complex weren't sure what had happened when they felt their buildings move.

"I said, 'Oh my, somebody ran into this house,' " said Joyce East, whose windows were blown out by the blast.

At Roosevelt-Wilson Elementary School, teachers tried to keep children calm and in place, even as sirens blared for at least an hour after the blast.

"We just made sure the kids felt safe and secure there," said Mr. Mathews' wife, Gina, a teacher's aide working with kindergarteners.

Teachers were careful not to tell the children what had happened at least six have parents working at the BP plant, Ms. Mathews said.

Less than a half-mile from the plant at Dee Best convenience store, Fabian Orellano was cleaning up the shattered glass from the rows of outdoor fluorescent lights that crashed to the ground in the explosion.

"You know that living close to these plants is really dangerous, but you just don't think about it," he said.

Still, for Texas City residents, the reaction is ingrained. Churches began assembling care packages for the victims. The Salvation Army quickly provided food and drinks to the estimated 900 emergency workers called to the plant.

"They are burned out, really, basically tired," said Salvation Army worker Henry Garza Jr. "You can tell a couple of them were involved close enough to the explosion. They look pale and they just are lucky they survived."

Mr. Mathews said that in Texas City, everyone tries to help, because all are touched by such tragedies.

"Whenever something goes wrong, these people stand together," he said. "Everybody knows someone who works at one of those refineries."

« Last Edit: Mar 24^th, 2005, 9:25am by luci »

IP Logged

"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and
can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words."

yesteach
ForumsNet Administrator

Gender:

Posts: 10465

Re: Texas Oil Refinery Explosion
« Reply #1 on: Mar 27^th, 2005, 1:03pm »

Quote

Modify

When I read this it all kept sounding familiar... then I remembered this is where the explosion was that killed all those people a long time ago. Did some reasearch. http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/metropolitan/txcity/

Considering this was 50+ years ago, you know there were people there who remember. Must have brought back horrible memories... in addition to the horror they were already dealing with... Sad