A special ceremony was held in West, Texas, on Saturday marking the solemn anniversary of the deadly fertilizer plant explosion a decade ago.
The ceremony Saturday held was two days before the actual anniversary on April 17, 2013. Officials from the city of West and McLennan County honored the 15 lives lost on that April night, which included 12 first responders and three civilians.
Carolyn Pustejovsky lost her son Joey Pustejovsky, who was 29 at the time of the explosion. Her son was not only a firefighter, but he was also the West city secretary.
I don’t want anyone to forget what these guys did for the town of West. You know, it could have been a lot worse.
Carolyn Pustejovsky
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“He would even go to sleep with his beeper on his pajamas, so he can get up and go,” Pustejovsky said Saturday. “Very loving, compassionate person.”
On the night of the fire, she said she thought her son might have been home. Her home was not far from the fertilizer plant.
“The explosion happened. It blew my car up in the air and flipped me going the other way. I had no idea what going on at that time,” she recalled.
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It took her family more than a week to confirm her son was one of the people killed in the explosion.
“We were calling every hospital trying to find him. I just kept thinking, 'He’s going to be OK,'” she said. “I don’t want anyone to forget what these guys did for the town of West. You know, it could have been a lot worse.”
At the ceremony Saturday, all 15 names were read out loud in their memory. It was followed by a moment of silence at the end of the program.
The deceased victims were Morris Bridges, Perry Calvin, Jerry Dane Chapman, Cody Frank Dragoo, Kenneth Harris, Adolph Lander, James Matus, Judith Ann Monroe, Joseph “Joey” Pustejovsky, Cyrus Adam Reed, Mariano C. Saldivar, Kevin William Sanders, Douglas Snokhous, Robert Snokhous and William Uptmor, Jr.
The explosion also damaged or destroyed homes, buildings, and cars. West Mayor Tommy Muska said rebuilding over the past decade has required money from FEMA and the state of Texas.
“All the infrastructure on the north side of town, we’ve completely done the streets. New homes are here; 120 new homes,” Muska said. “Ten years. A lot of times, you forget after 10 years. We don’t ever want to forget these 15 people.”
In 2016, federal officials announced the deadly blast was caused by a “criminal act”. The findings were revealed in a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigation into the origin of the deadly fire and explosion.
"I don’t know if any citizen can believe someone actually started this," Muska said Saturday. "I don’t know what the ATF came about as far as figuring that out. They said somebody started it. If they did and killed 15 people and damaged millions in property and the best they can come up with is a $50,000 reward, then something is not right. That’s all I can say about that."
