What caused the severity of the 2013 West Fertilizer Company incident?

• A. A detonation of a large quantity of ammonium nitrate stored at the facility
• B. A fire in a storage building
• C. A flood
• D. An explosion of natural gas

Answer: (A)

The big blast came from the detonation of a large quantity of ammonium nitrate stored at the facility. Ammonium nitrate is a fertilizer chemical that can become extremely explosive when heated or subjected to a fire, especially in bulk and with confinement. In this incident, a fire reached the stored ammonium nitrate, triggering a detonation that released a massive amount of energy, causing widespread damage and casualties far beyond what a fire alone would typically produce. So, while the fire contributed to the situation, the factor that created the extreme severity was the explosive release of the ammonium nitrate. The other options describe hazards that don’t account for the blast scale seen here.