On April 17th 2013, a lethal explosion occurred at the West Fertilizer Company’s plant in West, Texas (U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, 2013). The violent blast fatally injured 12 emergency responders, and three members of the public (U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, 2013). Over 260 individuals suffered injuries that required medical attention, while more than 150 buildings incurred damage (U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, 2013). Upon examining the incident, it is apparent that failed leadership contributed to the occurrence of the blast, and exacerbated the damages. Over the discourse of this paper, leadership failures will be discussed, and a leadership plan will be presented …show more content…
Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, 2013). Moreover, the company had a practice of storing fertilizer grade ammonium nitrate near combustibles. This practice contributed to the rapid progression and intensity of the fire (U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, 2013). This was a critical oversight of the company. WFC’s omission to file proper toxic materials disclosures with county stakeholders, as well as, being negligent in its storage practices, and lacking a fire detection system to alert local emergency responders, exemplify the organizations futile …show more content…
As the responder’s lacked this specialized training, firefighters arrived on the scene without the tools necessary to effectively perform a risk assessment. This would have enabled them to make the informed decision of not fighting the fire (U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, 2013). Firefighters must have the ability to ascertain the scene of a fire emergency, including changes in the characteristics of a fire (U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, 2013). Instead, they made decisions lacking situation awareness, which ultimately cost the department 12 lives. It is evident that emergency response leaders sent firefighters unprepared to the scene of the WFC incident. As aforementioned, there is no way to describe this other than