Casea Fire News Today

And, of course, the on going fire and po ten shl for more explosions. >> its all very true. our authorities know how to remain safe and maintain that the local residents are safe again. >> nobody can get within three miles now, physically; is that correct? >> we really want to encourage everyone to do exactly what the authorities are saying and not make the situation any worse by trying to get in there. i know sometimes thats hard to do, but right now, we need to let these people that are traine...

So theres probably 10-15 places totally demolished. theres probably 50 homes that have been heavily damaged. i have a solid wooden door in my office that blew the door off the hinges. >> and is it likely from what youre telling us that there are still probably many people trapped in these properties that have collapsed? >> thats what were afraid of. and of course, theres chemicals. we cant get in there because of the smoke and the hazardous chemicals. we cant help anybody if we go down. so were ...

Theyve all been taken to waco hospital. just finally, where were you when the explosion happened? >> i was a couple of blocks -- im a member of the fire department, so i was on my way to the fire. >> what was the feeling that you had? >> i was getting ready to see an explosion like that. its like a nuclear bomb went off. big old mushroom cloud. >> are you a firefighter yourself? >> yes, im a firefighter. were a small town, 2500. we do a lot of double duty around here. >> we have heard from other

>> were you hurt at all? >> no, sir, just a couple of little scratches. the lord had to be on my side. i had some angels. thats how close i was. >> do you feel lucky to be alive? >> i feel blessed to be alive. >> its an appalling on going tragedy. the firefighters -- somebody just tweeted me to point out theres no such thing as a part time firefighter. youre a firefighter even if its just one of the jobs -- >> no, im not a firefighter. >> no, the point i was making is that a lot of the firefight...

Every time im getting on the phone, it lasts a couple minutes and the phone cuts off. so i dont know if youre trying to call someone in town if its being blocked or you just cant. >> cheryl, im so sorry for whats happened to you. my thoughts and prayers go with your husband whos active duty fighting this fire tonight. thank you very much for taking the time to talk to me. >> thank you. thank you. >> i want to bring you up to speed on tonights breaking news in texas. some 10-15 buildings have bee...

>> yes, were actually on our way to the scene right now. were driving up from aus tennessee. austin. west texas sits just about half way between austin and waco. were hearing that theyre wanting to move people out of that area and evacuate i think a five-mile-radius around where the explosion happened. they are worried about the secondary explosion and what you were talk about earlier, potential toxic fumes that could do some more damage. >> as sanjay gupta was saying earlier, it is a multi-prob...

Assessment of this disaster is in terms of injuries and potential fatalityties. >> when i heard the fire, i had the residents move to the oh side of the building. i was there when the explosion went off, so i got trapped in the glass and stuff that fell on me. >> theres been hundreds of people taking to local hospitals. theyre trying to help the firefighters that are deceased from the explosion. ive heard very substantial rumors that there are three

Volunteer firefighters that have deceased from the explosion. and im with the county justice of the peace with another position in town. weve been told to expect heavy deceased people that we will help pronounce dead. like, right now, theyre trying to get the fire under control and trying to get into the building there. >> dr. smith, do you know how many buildings have collapsed to this moment? >> no, because i really cant get to it. my son lives on one of the buildings collapsed. one of the str...

People now? >> were using a community center which is probably five or six miles away. its at the far, southern end of the town. and the fertilizer plant is at the far northern end of the town. >> and are you and your colleagues and other emergency services able to get to the collapsed properties? or at the moment, can you not do that? >> we cant do that right now because theyre still fighting the fire. >> we cant help anybody else if its not safe to get in. >> obviously, a very dangerous situat...

Im here with sanjay gupta. this is develop, we dont know how severe these injuries are. we dont know if people are dead. but you do know about these kinds of injuries. >> and we hear about fertilizer plants in particular, being a concern. some of the concerns are the same concerns you would see in any particular explosion. the sorts of blast injuries weve been talking about here in boston. >> as you know from the explosions here in boston, went to 9 different hospitals. that number is going to e...