they've -- >> if you're just joining us, you're listening to sergeant patrick swanton, talking about the aftermath of an explosion of a fertilizer plant. he did say that right now, they're saying between 5 and 15 fatalities. three to five first responding firefighters remain missing. at least 160 people have been treated at area hospitals. the neighborhood surrounding the fertilizer plant remains shut down. in a includes utilities. he said homes and businesses. his quote, have been leveled. nothing indicates criminal activity. but not ruling anything out. let's listen to more of what he has to say. >> it is on the other side of the interstate. as you see the lights that are across the interstate now. that is a fairground football field. that's where they initially took some casualties to. the site of the blast is more towards the north side of town. but it is not far from that at all. the mileage, as far as the inside of the city of west, it's not a huge city. 2,800-plus, the last census we had. the city of west itself is not huge. but it is compact in the area where the fertilizer p

here where we've just been listening to the press conference given by sergeant patrick swanton from the way k. police department. he described the devastation that he saw when he. first arrived with emergency services at the scene what's the situation at the moment. right. much like you know we've been here. seen and we're currently at community. behind which what you being you. treat and transport patients are your pictures showed. probably more than one hundred patients here no one here would be able to give me a good number but most of them have been transported to area hospitals with varying injuries. complaining of regulatory issues like you were mentioning earlier about the danger of traffic. paint a picture for us about the devastation that was cool as we we've heard that many buildings were affected including an old person's home the police and emergency service is it going from building to building trying to pull people out what are you seeing at the moment are you able to see anything. right. the media is being kept very far away and i myself. try to get closer to the scene an

patti ann: that was sergeant patrick swanton giving an update on the search-and-rescue effort in theeadly fertilizer explosion in the city of west, texas, confirming there are still firefighters missing. those firefighters responded to the call of a fire at that plant and they were in that plant when the subsequent blast occurred and they are unaccounted for. but again also looking for people who might be trapped in nearby buildings. there was a short evacuation period. many people are believed have not made it out during that period. and they are looking for some of those now.> investigatoe pouring through surveillance videos for clues to the boston marathon bombings. reaction from the attorney general on 9/11. john ashcroft joining us. okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle -- 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and pr

my name is sergeant william patrick swanton. i am a spokesperson for the waco police department. the reason i am here tonight is west has called us to assist. i am here with trooper bill from the department of public safety. he is the pio and we are here to bring everybody up to speed on what we know and what has happened so far tonight. we know at 6:00 p.m. roughly our time there was a fire at the west fertilizer company in downtown west, texas. once that fire started their fire department responded. numerous firefighters went to the scene to assist in putting that fire out. as they were at the scene they realized the seriousness of what they had based on it being a fertilizer plant. we knew there was hydrous ammonia in there and we alreadied the volatile tee of that and how explosive it could be. they immediately did evacuations of homes, businesses trying to get people out of the area. approximately 50 minutes after sparks there was a massive explosion at the fertilizer plant. they were in the process of removing people from homes and nursing home in the area and an apartment

my name is sergeant william patrick swanton. the reason i'm here tonight is west has called us to assist. i'm here with trooper d.l. wilson from the department of public safety. he is their p.i.o. for our area. we're here to keep you updated in the events that have occurred so far. to bring everybody up to speed on what we know and what has happened so far tonight. we know at 6:00 p.m., roughly, our time, there was a fire at the west fertilizer company in downtown west, texas. once that fire started, their fire department responded. numerous firefighters went to the scene to assist in putting that fire out. as they were at the scene, they realized the seriousness of what they had, based on it being a fertilizer plant. we knew that there was ammonia in there. we realized the volatility of that and how explosive it could be. they immediately started doing evacuations of homes, of businesses, trying to get people out of the area. approximately 50 minutes after their response, there was a massive explosion at that fertilizer plant.

patrick swanton just wrapped up a news conference. he's a spokesperson for a waco police department. here's some of what he had to say. >> at this point, we don't know a number that have been killed. i will confirm there have been fatalities. i think we'll see those fatalities increase towards the morning. numerous injuries have been moved from the scene to a hospital. we've taken them in to our city limits, into waco, into hillcrest and providence hospital where they're being treated. >> firefighters in west, texas are concerned about a gas called anhydrous ammonia, and it's a fertilizer. the centers for disease control and prevention have listed it as a pungent gas with suffocating fumes, made up of nitrogen and hydrogen and when exposed to humans, it can cause irritation of eyes, nose or throat, burns or blisters and exposure to high concentrations can lead to death. when it's released in the air, the vapors initially move close to the ground, causing a greater risk for exposure. >> of course, that does pose a lot of problems when

my name is sergeant william patrick swanton. i'm the spokesperson for the police department in waco. we got called out here last night about 9:30 and we've been here ever since. i don't work for west pd. i don't work for mclennan county. those guys are tied up at this point so we're helping every bit that we can. it's not just us. there are numerous agencies, law enforceme enforcement, fire, first aid, responders, red cross, federal agencies, lots of folks are here and west has seen a tremendous outpouring of support in a tremendous community involvement. they have got together with each other, are leaning on each other and are very supportive. what i will try to give you at this point is a little bit more than we had before. i ask you again to bear with us as this is a bit of a tedious process down there. they are being very thorough. they are taking their time in their searches and i assure you they are not going to move fast because you all want more information. they are going to move at the speed they need to. we will try a

. >> we're joined by william patrick swanton. this devastation is so hard to absorb. can you give us a sense of exactly what you're dealing with there now. >> at this point the operation has moved into a search and rescue mode. we know that the blast was devastating on this town last night. we have recovered people. we know there are casualties. at this point we're going door to door, house to house, business to business trying to find survivors, trying to make sure that those that still are there, may be trapped in rubble, need medical help, that we're getting them. we know that the fire occurred approximately 15, 20 minutes later the major blast occurred. there is some significant devastation in the town of west tonight. >> absolutely leveled in so many ways. you're talking about searching for the souls missing right now. the current estimate 5 to 15 dead? >> that's the last numbers i have had were five to 15 casualties, fatalities. we know we have had at least 160 individuals that have been injured. some of those are very significant wounds, broken bones, open woun

patrick swanton, the public information officer, the face of the disaster, speaking to the media.t the impact of weather what is it on the search and rescue effort? >> obviously, we will continue through this. it may slow us a bit. it could potentially help us with environmental issues, help with the fire from different homes that were ignited during the blast as well. it won't stop us. it will slow us down this will stop and we'll get right back at it. >> reporter: are you also having to deal with other factors. daylight has to help for the search. >> without a doubt. this will certainly be of benefit to the officers who have been out here all night. still going house to house, door to door, business to business, be a little safer for them as well. homes were completely destroyed. meaning there was a huge environmental issue, nails, broken boards, splintered boards, a safety risk for those officers, firefighters, first responders, medical people going from door to door. this will be something that can help us in the sense of being able to see a little bit better and safely search

. >> you've been listening to sergeant patrick swanton with the waco, texas, police department.lly significant information that came out here. all morning long he's been reluctant to talk about the casualties here. they confirmed two. he's saying between 5 and 15 casualties now. however, he did point out that it is still a search and rescue operation. particularly in the town of west, texas. he says there are a lot -- massive devastation there, a lot of buildings collapsed so they have to continue to go through the rubble and see if there are other people injured or there are more serious issues. >> again, three to five firefighters are missing. he says 160-plus injured, 5 to 15 fatalities. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. omnipotent of opportunity. you know how to mix business... with business. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i could get used to this. [ male announcer ] yes, you could business pro. yes, you co

. >> patrick swanton, s-w-a-n-t-o-n. william patrick. thank you. >> okay, we just finish the a presser down in west, texas. the name of the town where the situation is going on. still pressing a desperate situation. we heard from sergeant swanton of the waco police. neighboring town. more facilities, helping out greatly. here are headlines, the fire is basically under control it is not out. they do not believe right now there is a risk of further explosions. it is still search and rescue, which means they are finding people that they can help and assist, it's not just about going through to recover those who didn't make it through the fire. so that's good news. that said, the sergeant couldn't give new numbers of injured, key not update numbers of those who have lost their lives. because it is a developing situation. the urgency is in finding as many as you can and not counteding at this point. firefighter, volunteer firefighters from their community. first responders on the fire. several still missing and search and rescue is to cover th