Two stories about bombs, one had the explosive capacity equivalent to Peter Brady's vinegar and baking soda volcano bomb that made a mess in the kitchen on The Brady Bunch. The other bomb packed more power than any non-nuclear bomb in the USA military arsenal. The small bomb hurt no one and caused no damage. The large bomb killed fourteen firemen and destroyed a good chunk of an entire city in Texas. One of the bombs led to an arrest of the person responsible. The other led to shrugs of "Oh well, accidents happen.."
Kiera Wilmot was a typical 16-year-old honour student at Bartow Senior High School. She’s never been in trouble, has a reputation for being nice to everyone, gets straight As, and loves science.
What’s not typical is what went down after one of these “science experiments” went all so slightly wrong on school grounds.
At 7 am on Monday April 30, Wilmot and a yet-to-be-named friend mixed aluminium foil and toilet bowl cleaner in a small water bottle, and after about 30 seconds, the reaction created pressure inside the bottle, blowing the cap off with a pop that according to witnesses sounded like firecrackers going off...
No one was hurt by the “explosion,” but later that day Wilmot was handcuffed, arrested, and expelled from school. According to the police report, she has been charged with two felonies: “possession/discharge of a weapon on school grounds” and “discharging a destructive device.”..
She was also expelled for violating the school’s conduct code, which requires immediate expulsion for any “student in possession of a bomb (or) explosive device… while at a school (or) a school-sponsored activity… unless the material or device is being used as part of a legitimate school-related activity or science project conducted under the supervision of an instructor.”
And then this..
Officials: 14 Dead, 200 Injured in West, Texas Explosion
The number of people killed in a massive explosion at a fertilizer plant near Waco Texas still remains unknown. Law enforcement continues to search damaged homes and apartments for survivors.
Waco Police Sergeant William Patrick Swanton spoke for the City of West early Thursday morning. "There was quite a bit of devastation," Swanton said of the blast radius surrounding the fertilizer plant. According to the Waco Police Department, homes are still being evacuated and there are firefighters still unaccounted for.
The explosion was caused by a fire at the plant yesterday evening. It occurred as firefighters were evacuating people from their homes—including some elderly residents at a nursing home. The blast gutted homes, along with a 50-unit apartment complex. The plant’s blast registered a 2.1 magnitude event, according to the U.S. Geological Service, and was felt 15 miles away are heard as far as Waxahatchie (45 miles away).
After West Fertilizer Explosion, Concerns Over Safety, Regulation and Zoning
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| Owner: Donald Adair has owned the West Fertilizer Co. for around seven years |
It will take time to determine the exact cause of the fire and explosion at the fertilizer plant in West, Texas. The disaster has cost at least 14 lives, caused 200 injuries and has destroyed at least 50 homes. The blast was so strong that it blew out windows for miles, and even registered as an earthquake. First responders said the aftermath looked like “a war zone.”
Yet even at this early stage of the investigation, there are signs that not all was right with the plant, like the fact that it had as much as 270 tons of ammonium nitrate (which can be explosive) at the site, but no sprinklers or fire barriers. It’s also brought up questions about regulation in Texas, and whether homes and schools should be so close to industry.
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