Gov. Perry Provides Update on State Response to Tragedy in West

Gov. Rick Perry today met with state officials to discuss Texas’
response to last night’s explosion and fires at a fertilizer plant in West,
Texas. State officials worked through the night and this morning to assist
local emergency management and law enforcement with health and medical
resources, incident management, search and rescue and environmental quality
monitoring, which are ongoing.

“We are blessed in Texas to have the best emergency response teams in the
nation, and they were certainly at their best last night, quickly and
efficiently taking control of the situation, tending to the wounded and
helping keep a bad situation from getting worse,” Gov. Perry said. “Anyone
who grew up in a small town understands that this tragedy will touch every
family in West and the surrounding communities in some way. I urge all
Texans and Americans to join me in keeping the people of West and our first
responders in your prayers as this situation continues to unfold.”

“Once again, our state’s first responders have run toward disaster, putting
their lives on the line for those they protect and serve,” Lt. Governor
David Dewhurst said. “We will continue to pray for them and the countless
Texans whose lives have been forever changed by this tragedy.”

Activated state resources include:
Texas Department of Public Safety: Helping secure the area for law
enforcement personnel to conduct business and maintain public safety.
Texas Task Force 1 & 2 (TTF1 and TTF2): TTF1 urban search and rescue team,
including damage assessment personnel for collapse structure assessment, and
a search and rescue K-9 Team. TTF2 search and rescue task force has also
been deployed.
Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS): Ambulance buses, two
medical incident support team members and mental health and other resources
have been deployed. The DSHS State Medical Operations Center has also been
activated.
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ): Providing air monitoring
and technical assistance.
Texas Military Forces (TXMF): The 6th Civil Support Team, with approximately
21 personnel, has been deployed to support of first responders. Additional
resources and personnel from the Texas National Guard Homeland Response
Force (HRF) remain on alert and ready to assist if needed.
Communications Coordination Group (CCG): Activated to provide additional
emergency communication resources and/or support as needed.
Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT): Two 300-gallon fuel trailers
from the TxDOT Bryan District have been sent to West, along with four
personnel and four trucks to assist with mobile fueling; 18 personnel and
nine trucks are closing city streets to block off the affected area. Other
available sites for refueling are the TxDOT Waco District Office and TxDOT
Hill County Area Office in Hillsboro.
Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC): Providing support personnel.
Texas Railroad Commission: Monitoring pipelines in the affected area.
Texas Education Agency: Working with the local school district to coordinate
any immediate needs. Schools in West are closed for the remainder of the
week.
Texas Forest Service: Incident Management Team assisting the Texas Division
of Emergency Management with planning and logistics.
Texas Department of Insurance: State Fire Marshal’s Office is assisting
on-site. Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) is also actively assisting
individuals affected by this tragedy. Two members of TDI’s Consumer
Protection Division will be on site to assist individuals as soon as it is
safe to do so.

Individuals looking for information or assistance may dial the Texas
Information Referral Network at 2-1-1. To donate to the Texas Disaster
Relief Fund, please visit www.texasdisasterrelieffund.org or call
1-866-463-7982.

The State Operations Center has been activated to support emergency response
operations, and will continue to monitor the situation.

For information about how you can help, medical and shelter information and
helpful numbers please visit http://governor.state.tx.us/disaster/.