In West, Texas, a town grieves as it tries to pick up the pieces

The aerial shots from over the obliterated community of West, Texas, tell the tail of a conflagration and a disaster that is almost beyond comprehension.

Last week’s explosion of a fertilizer plant killed 14 people and left some 200 injured.

This week, the sense of shock is settling in.

Lauren Silverman, a reporter for KERA in Dallas, said within the tight-knit community, almost everyone has a sister or an uncle or even a child who’s been affected by the accident.

Particularly hard-hit was the community’s volunteer first-responders, who rushed to the scene of the fire at the fertilizer plant that ultimately blew up. Of the 14 killed, four were medics and five were firefighters, Silverman said.

“In a town like this, a lot of the firefighters are actually volunteers. They work in the city. They have other jobs,” she said. “They may not have the training we typically associate with firefighters in other, bigger cities.”

Survivors have been angry over a perceived lack of monitoring and safety around this plant. The Department of Homeland Security hadn’t been told how much ammonium nitrate the plant had on hand — and earlier Monday it was reported that OSHA inspectors hadn’t visited the plant in years.

The plant has operated in its current location for years, but the community of West has grown toward it.

“There was a middle school right across from where the plant was that was completely destroyed,” Silverman said. “Students who are supposed to go to that middle school are going to be bused to a neighboring district to attend a school that hasn’t even been in use.”

As for the plant, its believed to be owned by someone with ties to the local community — and not some out-of-town conglomerate. So far, however, that owner has remained quiet.

“He did release a statement, expressing his concerns. And one of the people who died was an employee of the company,” Silverman said.