In 1947, a fire broke out aboard a cargo ship in the port of Texas City, Texas, that was carrying 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate. One clue to the role of ammonium nitrate in this explosion was the deep red-orange color of the blast that could be seen in the many videos posted online this was caused by the presence of highly toxic nitrogen dioxide gas, which is formed as a secondary product of the reaction. When the chemical is subjected to enough heat, it decomposes either to form nitrous oxide (N 2O) and water or, at higher temperatures, nitrogen (N 2), oxygen (O 2), and water in both cases, the result is a highly exothermic, energetic reaction. Advertisementīut industrial accidents involving ammonium nitrate have been responsible for even greater disasters. ![]() Terror groups on both sides of Northern Ireland's sectarian conflict also built bombs using ANFO from the 1970s until the 1990s, and Timothy McVeigh used a combination of ammonium nitrate and nitromethane for a terror attack in Oklahoma City in 1995. The first recorded ammonium nitrate fuel oil (ANFO) bomb was detonated in 1970 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a protest against the Vietnam War. But it's also been employed for more nefarious ends. It's now believed that a fire broke out at the warehouse-possibly due to careless welding performed as an anti-theft measure-which caused the stockpile of the chemical, often used as a fertilizer, to explode catastrophically.Īmmonium nitrate has often been combined with fuel oil to create an explosive that's used in mining and construction, and it has been used as an oxidizer for rocket engines. Initial reports blamed improperly stored fireworks for the disaster, but the real culprit soon emerged: 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate (NH 4NO 3) that had been seized by Lebanese officials from a freighter in 2013 and stored at a warehouse at the port ever since. The blast killed at least 135 people and injured thousands more, and it may have left 300,000 residents homeless after the shockwave shattered glass and damaged buildings across the Mediterranean city. Then, they used a practice dummy to simulate cutting someone loose from the auger and delivering them safely to EMTs.On Tuesday, Beirut was devastated by a massive chemical explosion that occurred at the city's port a little after 6pm local time. The auger is the spiral part at the bottom of a grain bin that helps pump out the grain.įire departments practiced going into a grain bin to get to the auger. They also practiced responding to people incapacitated in an empty grain and how to save someone with a limb caught in a grain auger. Rescuing someone sinking in grain isn't the only training the departments went through. "No matter what you're doing whether it's on the farm on a grain elevator or anything like that, never do anything alone," advised Bushelle.Ī little thing that could help you save a life. Number one, make sure you turn off the power to whatever is engulfing the person in the grain bin, number two, throw them something like a shovel and tell them to stay calm, and number three, call 9-1-1 as soon as possible. ![]() ![]() "By all of us training together we know how the fire department is going to pull somebody out, we know how the ambulance crew is going to package somebody up, and we know what the helicopter crew is going to look for," said Krier.Īll the training done here today was for the professionals, but if you ever find yourself in a situation where someone is caught in a grain bin, there are three things you should do. From the rescue to the ambulance ride to even a mock cruise through the clouds in the Sanford emergency helicopter. The crews go through the whole nine yards. The educating comes in a very hands-on, harness-on approach, but doesn't end with just pulling someone from a pile of grain. That's the reason why they're the ones teaching law, fire, and EMS departments from around the area how to save someone from that quicksand inside the bins. "About half of grain engulfment's end in death, in our industry, at our elevators, we do extensive training on these things," said CHS safety director, Jesse Bushelle. It's death trap, the pros at CHS grain co-op deal with every day. "If you get caught in a grain truck, an elevator, or a bin you start sinking right away and it's almost like quicksand," said Becker County Sheriff, Doug Krier.
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