Congressional Action Needed to Renew Effective CFATS Program

On April 17, 2013, an ammonium nitrate explosion occurred at the West Fertilizer Company storage and distribution facility in West, Texas, eighteen miles north of Waco, while emergency services personnel were responding to a fire at the facility. Fifteen people were killed, more than 160 injured, and more than 150 buildings damaged or destroyed. On May 11, 2016, the ATF stated that the fire had been deliberately set.

By Dave Wulf, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Infrastructure Protection Five years ago, a fire broke out at a small fertilizer plant in the town of West, Texas, sending local volunteer fire departments racing to the scene. Twenty minutes later, the plant exploded, fatally injuring 12 emergency responders and 3 members of the … Continue reading Congressional Action Needed to Renew Effective CFATS Program