iStock/Thinkstock(AUSTIN, Texas) — Dozens of people suffered head injuries as a result of the April 2013 explosion at the West Fertilizer Company in Texas that left 14 people dead, most of them first responders.
According to an investigation by Texas’ state health department and public health officials in McLennan County, virtually all of the 262 people hurt by the blast who sought treatment at hospitals and elsewhere were within 1,500 feet of the explosion.
Meanwhile, of those who went to hospitals, approximately 20 percent of them were either treated for a traumatic brain injury or a concussion.
West Mayor Tommy Muska admits he’s experienced some loss of hearing since the explosion, which seems to be common for a lot of people in town.
Muska says the report is also making his community and others think more carefully about zoning, admitting, it’s “a huge issue. It’s something that was not, not really looked at close enough I don’t think in the past for our community but we are now.”
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