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West Fertilizer Plant Explosion

National Institute of Standards and Technology

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Each entry separates the article’s editorial relevance note from its exact, section-level claims. A bibliography link without a direct claim is labeled plainly.

Engineering failures · 17 April 2013
The West Fertilizer Company Explosion

West Fertilizer Company explosion site · United States

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Why editors use it here
Federal engineering information on blast, buildings, emergency response, and research.
1. Quick read
  On 17 April 2013, a fire at West Fertilizer Company in West, Texas, heated stored fertilizer-grade ammonium nitrate until it detonated.
  Reviewed 26 July 2026
2. Trigger and conditions
  A fire of undetermined cause began in the seed room and spread into the fertilizer building.
  Reviewed 26 July 2026
3. Uncertainty
  Ammonium-nitrate detonation and storage conditions are established.
  Reviewed 26 July 2026
4. Why it matters
  The explosion was not only a fertilizer chemistry problem.
  Reviewed 26 July 2026