Ammonium
nitrate is a volatile compound, but very useful as a fertilizer for
enriching soil with nitrogen. Its only other use is as an explosive. A
factory fire at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, ignited a stockpile
of ammonium nitrate and the resulting explosion killed 14 people and
sent over a hundred to hospitals last Wednesday, but its only the latest
of the many ammonium nitrate disasters. Oregon had a big one in 1959.
Truck
driver George Rutherford parked his truck in front of the Garretsen
Building Supply Company in downtown Roseburg, Oregon, on the night of
August 6, 1959. He then retreated to the nearby Umpqua Hotel to get some
rest before his morning delivery. The delivery never happened, because
sometime between midnight and 1 a.m., the Garretsen Building Supply
Company caught on fire. Shortly thereafter, the fire ignited the
contents of Rutherford’s truck—two tons of dynamite and 4.5 tons of
ammonium nitrate. All of the buildings in an eight-block radius were
totally destroyed (pictured above) and 14 people died. Rutherford
survived.
But that's just one explosion. There are plenty of other disasters caused by ammonium nitrate to read about
here.
No comments:
Post a Comment