CSB Sharing Explosion Findings at 4/22 West Meeting
The public meeting comes just more than a year after the explosion destroyed a fertilizer storage plant, killing 14 people and injuring more than 250.
The Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board announced it will convene a public meeting on April 22, starting at 5:30 p.m. at the Southside Community Center in West, Texas, where the board members will hear preliminary findings from CSB's investigation team about the April 17, 2013, fire and explosion at the West Fertilizer Company/Adair Grain storage facility. The explosion killed 14 people, injured more than 250 residents and emergency responders, and triggered a wide federal response that includes OSHA's currently proposed changes to its Process Safety Management standard.
Twelve of the people who died were volunteer firefighters.
According to the board, the explosion damaged or destroyed more than 150 buildings, including an apartment complex, three schools, a nursing home, and a hospital.
The meeting is intended to provide information to the community about how the fire and explosion occurred and also how similar future incidents can be prevented or mitigated. The agency's announcement said CSB has invited several stakeholders in the emergency response community to provide their insights into the incident.
Following the staff presentation and an expert panel presentation, the board will take comments from the public. The announcement stressed that these will be preliminary findings, and no factual analyses, conclusions, or findings presented by CSB staff should be considered final.