Several found dead, many still missing
02:35 - Source: CNN

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Story highlights

Two more fatalities have been identified, bringing number of dead to 14

Firefighters and emergency responders are among those dead

Small town of West -- population 2,800 -- grapples with loss

CNN  — 

Two days after a massive fertilizer plant explosion leveled parts of a central Texas town, killing 14 people and displacing many more, residents moved into recovery mode Friday after investigators announced they had nearly finished search and rescue efforts.

The fiery explosion ripped through the heart of West, a close-knit town about 75 miles south of Dallas and about 20 miles north of Waco. Before Wednesday, West was known as the home of Scott Podsednik of the Boston Red Sox and as the “Czech heritage capital of Texas,” boasting the best kolache in the state.

“It’s going to be a long recovery for this community,” Gov. Rick Perry said.

The death toll included the city secretary, who was also a member of the volunteer fire department, said Mayor Tommy Muska. The victim was the only person with the password to the city’s Facebook account, Muska said, preventing others from posting updates about the incident.

In total, five West firefighters died battling the blaze, along with one Dallas firefighter and four emergency responders, the State Firemen’s and Fire Marshals’ Association of Texas said Thursday.

“It’s devastating. I’ve been a member of the firefighters for 26 years,” Muska said. “These guys are my friends.”

The explosion tore through the roof of West Fertilizer Co., charring much of the structure and sending massive flames into the air.

Muska rushed to the scene to assist in crowd control about 1.5 blocks from the plant. The explosion, which registered as a 2.1-magnitude earthquake, blew his hat off, he said.

It also destroyed his home, he said, making him one of many in the small town of 2,800 to be displaced in the blast’s aftermath. Many, including him, are staying in hotels or with friends, he said.

The destruction made it hard to account for exactly how many people had been displaced, McLennan County Judge Scott Felton said Friday. He estimated that 99% of people originally thought to be missing had been accounted for.

Felton and Muska joined Perry in thanking volunteers from across the state who came to assist in cleanup. They also expressed gratitude for donations of food and clothes, but said they were running out of places to store them and asked that people instead donate money through the Red Cross and Salvation Army.

“We’ve hit the saturation point on receiving stuff, clothes, food, those kind of things, and we’re running out of places to put it,” Felton said.

It’s still unclear what caused the blast, which Brad Smith felt in his home 50 miles away.

“We didn’t know exactly what it was,” Smith said. “The forecast said a line of thunderstorms was going to come through. My wife and I looked up and wondered, ‘Did it get here six hours early?’ “

Local authorities are still working with federal officials, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, to determine the cause of the deadly explosion, Perry said.

It’s unclear whether the plant had safety problems. In 2006, the Environmental Protection Agency fined the company that ran the fertilizer plant $2,300 and told the owners to correct problems that included a failure to file a risk management program plan on time.

Seven years ago, the company had a complaint against it for a lingering smell of ammonia, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality website shows.

The blast came as the nation remained on edge after the Boston Marathon bombing on Monday that killed three and left about 180 injured. It happened two days before Friday’s 20th anniversary of a fire in Waco that ended a federal agents’ siege against members of the Branch Davidian sect. More than 80 sect members and some federal agents died.

What’s clear, though, is the blast stunned residents of this town and left behind a trail of charred devastation.

Perry surveyed the scene from a helicopter and on the ground.

“We are blessed we didn’t lose more people than we actually did,” he said.

CNN’s Elizabeth Landau, Greg Botelho, Josh Levs and Lateef Mungin contributed to this report.