West plant explosion survivor shares his story

WEST, Texas ( FOX 44 ) – One of the largest and deadliest chemical disasters in recent U.S. history happened in the City of West.

Twelve firefighters and three people who lived near the plant died. The blast injured nearly 300 people and destroyed two schools, a nursing home, an apartment complex and many homes.

FOX 44 News was able to sit down with one man who lives to tell this story.

“I don’t remember the actual explosion, I don’t remember the aftermath of it. For me, I just woke up the next day in the hospital,” says survivor Robert Payne.

The West Fertilizer Company had been serving farmers near Waco since 1962. The building caught fire early in the evening of April 17, 2013.

Volunteer firefighters fought the flames for 20 minutes when the worst happened – a massive explosion of more than 30 tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer which was stored in the building where the blaze began.

It was compared to a nuclear bomb going off.

Payne is a former volunteer firefighter who was injured in the blast. He never witnessed the force equivalent to a 2.1 magnitude earthquake, but he is living with the aftermath.

“Broken bones in the jaw, teeth, nerve damage on the right side, broken left ankle, hearing loss, busted ear drum, broken ribs, several other things,” Payne explains.

His injuries are healing, but memories still haunt him.

“Certainly it’s a scary thing as well to have lived through it, too. We would have come so close,” says Payne.

But what started the fire?

Three years after the explosion, a stunning announcement came from the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms that the fire was intentionally set – an act of evilness that Payne doesn’t believe could come from the City of West.

“I just don’t believe somebody set it. I think it was probably either electrical or the golf cart they thought it was,” says Payne.

A memorial was dedicated in 2019 to those who lost their lives in the explosion.

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