residents are being evacuated from a town in west. and there are fears that a second large, fertilizer tank may explode. there are at least three confirmed fatalities. but authorities say that number could go much higher. we d like to take a moment to show you this video that was posted on kwkt.com. it appears to be what looks to be a secondary explosion after the initial fire. the blast sent huge flames and a plume of smoke into the air. the u.s. geological survey says the blast measured 2.1. we do have confirmed fatalities.
hydrogen. when exposed to humans, it can cause breathing dpif cu ining d earation of the eyes, nose or throat, exposure in high concentrations can lead to death that. of course, is the big concern here. when it s released in the air, the vapors initially move close to the ground, causing a greatest risk for exposure. that takes a states policeman spoke to the media after returning from the area close to the blast. he described a scene of wide devastation. i can tell you, i was there. i searched through the scene, i was in some houses tonight. devastating. massive. just like iraq. just like the murray building in oklahoma city. same kind of an hydrous exploded. you can imagine the damage we re look ag t. i know there was at least 50-75 houses damaged. there s an apartment complex that has about 50 units in it
know, other ingredients there on the facility. we don t want that to explode again. right now, question cannot get firefighters in there. right now, we re not worried about property. we want people safe. that s our main goal. and just to confirm, what d.l. wilson, the department of public safety spokesperson was saying there, emergency officials now believe that 60-80 homes and apartments have been levelled. rescue workers have been unable to get anywhere close to the plant because that fire is still burning and releasing toxic chemicals into the air. the west fertilizer plant is about 15 miles west of waco. west texas is home of about 2600 people.
can come out from people that have the reporting. you can see that shock wave coming out. they asked all of the people that were filming from these helicopters, probably about 45 people now had to leave that area because they were afraid if there was a second explosion, that would make for unstable air and that those helicopters would not only be safe, but it would put other people s lives in danger on the ground, as well. so they ve had this no-fly zone around this area. we also know that apparently o two, if what in what s being referred to as two ambulance busses. they re on their way there. apparently, one has just arrived. so they can take 20 patients at one time. and then, at the same time, transport them to whichever hospital they need to go to. on top of this nursing home that was so close, they took a huge, blunt hit from this explosion with more than a hundred elderly people there.
miles away and windows blown out. there was a rural area, but there was an apartment complex, a school and a nursing home. would it be unusual to be located near a nursing home? apartment complex? yeah, that s a fair question. but i can tell you one thing besides the obvious sort of physical damage to the nursing home, the air quality in there. this is of small concern. i imagine in addition to trying to rescue people in that nursing home, the rescue workers, themselves, my guess is they re going to have to be fully protected and quickly try and get, you know, cleenl air, ox jenl, to the people who are potentially maybe trapped, i heard, i recallier in that nursing home. sanjay gupta there. we have some information that we can confirm right there. half of the tounl remains still evacuated. we are expecting storms to sweep through the area in the coming hours. there s still no firm numbers, as of yet, on the number of