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More than 100 people were injured and 5 to 15 killed in the West, Texas explosion. Property damage was immense. There is also fear of toxic ammonia gas in the air.
The blast was so big it registered as a 2.1 magnitude earthquake.
Sgt. Patrick Swanton of the Waco Police Department said the first call of a fire came in at 7:29 p.m. local time. Firefighters and other emergency workers responded to the call and began evacuating the area.
Minutes later, the devastating explosion occured. The first call of the explosion came in at 7:53 p.m. local time, Swanton said.
Below are staggering pictures of the aftermath:
AP Photo/LM OteroFirefighters use flashlights to search a destroyed apartment complex near a fertilizer plant that exploded earlier in West, Texas, in this photo made early Thursday morning, April 18, 2013.
AP Photo/LM OteroFirefighters search an area destroyed by a fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas, in this photo made early Thursday morning, April 18, 2013.
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REUTERS / Mike StoneThe remains of a fertilizer plant burn after an explosion at the plant in the town of West, near Waco, Texas early April 18, 2013.
REUTERS/Mike StoneThe remains of a fertilizer plant burn after an explosion at the plant in the town of West, near Waco, Texas early April 18, 2013.
REUTERS/Mike StoneA damaged vehicle is seen after an explosion at a fertilizer plant in the town of West, near Waco, Texas early April 18, 2013.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesWith smoke rising in the distance, a law enformcement officer runs a check point at the perimeter about half a mile from the West Fertilizer Company April 18, 2013 in West, Texas.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesBlown out plate glass windows lay shattered on the sidewalk and street after the West Fertilizer Company exploded April 18, 2013 in West, Texas.
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AP Photo/WFAA-TVThis video image provided by WFAA-TV shows injured people being treated on the flood-lit the high school football field turned into a staging area after the blast in West Texas Wednesday April 17, 2013.
