The Texas State Fire Marshal’s Office says the deaths of 12 people responding to last year’s explosion at the West Fertilizer plant could have been prevented.
The Fire Marshal’s report [PDF] released Thursday night says the first responders killed in the April 2013 fertilizer plant explosion in West,Texas were not prepared or equipped to deal with such a dangerous situation.
The report says that is not because the first responders failed to perform their duties as they had been trained, but due to a “systemic deficiency in the training and preparation” of the firefighters.
The report says the firefighters were responding to the fire as if it were in a house, instead of a large and complicated commercial property.
The Fire Marshal’s office also says all emergency crews should have a specific plan for responding to situations at facilities containing hazardous materials, such as the ammonium nitrate at the West Fertilizer plant.
The report also says if the plant would have had a working sprinkler system the fire may have been controlled.
