Fertilizer truck explodes in Queensland

[TarJak]

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-06/ammonium-nitrate-truck-explodes-in-charleville-queensland-8-hurt/5724512

Wow that was a big bang.

[Wolferz]

Are the bananas OK?

[Jimbuna]

So what's the big stink over? :hmmm:

[BossMark]

So that is how they make Fosters is it.....

[Oberon]

Aye, Ammonium nitrate sure does go up, that's why it's the bomb material de jure for the amateur terrorist.

[Aktungbby]

Keeping up with US are you?! http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fertilizer-explosion-kills-581-in-texas (http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fertilizer-explosion-kills-581-in-texas) The Grandcamp exploded at 9:12 a.m. Exploded is probably too mild a word.
The captain and 32 of the Grandcamp's crew died; 10 somehow survived. More than 200 people were killed on the quay, including the fire department. The blast was heard 160 miles away. It shattered all the windows in Texas City and half of those in Galveston, 10 miles away.
Some debris reached an altitude of nearly 3 miles before falling back to earth. Two airplanes circling overhead were blown apart by the heavy shrapnel (http://archive.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/03/dayintech_0313). A one-ton piece of the ship's propeller shaft landed 2½ miles away. Other pieces sailed 5 miles.
The blast flattened 20 waterfront blocks and 12 blocks inland. Flaming debris ignited oil, gas and chemical tanks at the sprawling Monsanto complex and three nearby oil companies. The horror did not cease...The second ship, Highflyer, similarly loaded, blew up, also raining death and fire anew on Texas City. The shockwave and new fires killed hundreds more.
The fires were not put out until April 18. Bodies and parts of bodies were strewn all over town. "Blood and guts" was not just a phrase. At least one survivor reported getting stuck in a slippery tangle and looking down to see that it was human intestines. http://archive.wired.com/images/article/full/2009/04/texas_city_1947.jpg (http://archive.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2009/04/dayintech_0416#)The blast and the fires that follow kill about 600 people and injure 3,500 more. Six decades later, it remains the deadliest explosion and worst industrial disaster in U.S. history.

[Tango589]

If this Ammonium Nitrate got mixed with diesel from the ruptured fuel tank when the truck rolled over, this would have created something akin to ANFO (Ammonium Nitrate Fuel Oil). On Mythbusters they used 850 lbs (386 Kgs) of ANFO to reduce a cement truck to tiny parts. I can only imagine the kind of boom that went up when 50 Tonnes of ANFO went up!

Here's the Mytbusters clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m48j9INPICo

[BrucePartington]

http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j363/regiwi1/biff_manure.jpg

[Tango589]

What's that picture of?

[Jimbuna]

Back to the Future (1985)

This scene from Back to the Future shows Biff Tannen covered with manure after he drove his car into a trailer loaded with the stuff

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Back-to-the-Future-Texting-and-driving-leads-to-crash-with-trailer-hauling-liquid-manure_id46685

[fireftr18]

TarJak, thanks for posting. It shows what my brothers and sisters are up against. I don't know about Australia, but in the US and Canada, the trucks need to be labelled on all sides if a certain quantity of a hazardous material is carried. That way, if we roll up on fertilizer truck on it's side, leaking fuel and burning, we know to go away and block off the area, and just let it burn.
Aktungboy, good post. That incident is still studied in detail in all levels of fire service related classes.

[TarJak]

Yes we have all round hazardous materials labelling as mandatory on all vehicles carrying over a certain weight. Not sure of the details in this case but looks like the fire trucks got parked too close.