And just when you thought fertilizer shortage was bad ..

Texas City was just one in a long history of Self-Detonations of Ammonium Nitrate... The critical issue oil these is, "You NEVER, NEVER, EVER, try to put out an Ammonium Nitrate Fire with WATER"...

 

The way to fight a Ammonium Nitrate Fire, is to use a Tractor to spread it out in a very thin layer that is separated from the Main Pile by a FireBreak about 10’ wide…. Then let it burn out… or smother it with CO2… But you NEVER, NEVER, EVER, use water to try and put the fire out… And you ALWAYS separate the burning AN from the non-burning AN via FireBreak, to minimize the amount that can catch fire, while you work on putting out the fire…

 

You are not BURNING the AN, correct??? It is only BURNING AN that is susceptible to Spontaneous Detonation, when water is used to try and put out the FIRE… Ask ANY Fire Dept. Officer… It is part of the Officer test, in the Hazmat Section, and is repeated for any Officer Upgrade Test….
AN is a Giant Oxidizing Agent, but with an extremely large Energy Input, it will Detonate… Add any petroleum product or any type of fuel mixed in, it becomes significantly more sensitive.. AN by itself is NOT Cap, Det-Cord or even Booster sensitive... However add a bit of Fuel, and things get interesting fast.. It took about 75 years for the Chemists to figure out the Self-Detonation mechanism for the Burning AN & Water issue, but now it is at least, understood.. Texas City Disaster brought the issue into the Mainstream of HazMat Knowledge, but it still happens, around the world.. because of lack of HazMat Training by local uneducated Fire Folks… Beruit was a classic case…Warehouse full of AN, Fireworks, and rumored storage of Hezbala Rocket Factory… Fire started in the Hezbala area, and spread to the FireWorks, then to one end of the AN.. Local Fire Guys do what they know best, and dumped Water on the fire, trying to put it out… All one needs to know, can be seen in the Posted U-Tube videos, showing the Smoke Color changes, as the fire progressed in the building.. When the smoke turned Orange, it was to late, and then BOOM….