NFPA updates hazardous materials code, addressing issues in West, Texas chemical storage tragedy

For the second time in three years, NFPA used its consensus standards development system to address an urgent need for safeguarding industrial hazards. On April 17, 2013, an ammonium nitrate storage facility in the small town of West, Texas, caught fire and exploded with devastating force. The blast destroyed most of the West Fertilizer Company facility and damaged or leveled nearly every structure within a 1,500-foot radius, including homes, schools, and a nursing home. Fifteen people were killed, including 10 members of the town’s volunteer fire department, and about 200 were injured. Damage estimates approached $250 million. Soon after the...