FERTILIZER MANUFACTURERS BLAME VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS

  

One of the fertilizer manufacturers in last year’s fatal explosion in West has filed court papers blaming the city’s volunteer fire department for the blast.

waco-explosion

C.F. Industries is one of the fertilizer manufacturers named in hundreds of lawsuits filed by families of those killed and injured in the West Fertilizer Company explosion on
April 17, 2013. In recent court filings, C.F. Industries is seeking to designate the City of West as a “responsible third party” in the lawsuits. The fertilizer manufacturer contends that the city failed to properly train the first responders to fight the fire that triggered the explosion in West that killed 15 people and injured hundreds of others. The filing also seeks to designate as third parties to the lawsuit an unknown “John Doe”, who may have started the fire, and the manufacturers of a golf cart which was inside the plant. C.F. Industries says a State Fire Marshall’s report on the explosion mentions all of these parties as possible causes of the fire and explosion.

The first of several trials in the lawsuits is not set to begin until July of 2015.

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3 Comments

  1. Not going go comment on the golf cart manufacturer or the John Doe , just the Fire Dept. I hope that the city and the fire dept. did all that they could to mitigate their responsibility in this incident and did not bury their heads in the sand or turn a blind eye to the hazard that existed in their community. It is the responsibility of the fire department (fire chief) to recognize all existing and potential hazards in the response area and be able to prove that they have done all they can to prepare for the hazards that exist, within their resource and budget constraints. It is also their responsibility to inform anyone (municipal leaders,individual or corporation, etc) that THEY have created a hazard that that is beyond the department’s capability to control. Not my monkey, not my circus. And explain exactly why it is beyond their capability to the owner of the hazard and if the owner expects more, that they are responsible to provide the resources and finances to accomplish this. This must also be communicated to the municipal authorities – read mayor, council, board of commissiomers, etc.
    Having said this I wish only the best outcome for the City of West and their fire department. They have suffered enough already. Hopefully these comments will provide incentive for others to examine their communities and better prepare to mitigate any hazards that exist or at least put the monkey on the back of those who own it!

  2. The idea of blaming the VFD for their level of training may not be an entirely crazy idea. However, based on the short amount of time they had on scene, it was likely beyond anyone’s ability to prevent the tragic result. My question is, had the fertilizer companies contributed anything to the department? Did they conduct trainings FOR the department on the hazards of their facility? Did they donate money or equipment to the department? Did they even pay taxes? Or were they receiving a tax break to keep them in the area for jobs? Did the town or county give the company a tax break, which takes money directly out of the budget for the department?

    I work as an industrial firefighter, and the various departments at the steel mill where I work do their best to help train us as to the many and varied hazards in their area. On the VFD I belong to, the local businesses do the same. Was the fertilizer company being a good neighbor? Or were they breaking industry safety rules, and ignoring the dangers, just to now blame other for this?

    What is the root cause of this incident? The local FD, or the fertilizer companies industrial practices?

  3. Another example of big industry not taking responsibility. Really the golf cart manufacturer, yes they are to blame for the companies employee parking a golf cart in an area of potential hazard. Big industry wants and takes the big money until it goes wrong, then they will find as many others to be responsible for the tragic results so they don’t have to bare the cost alone.

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