Story highlights
- Fifteen people perished in the April 17, 2013, blast
- The explosion destroyed 120 homes and damaged 200 more
- Jeff Tobola caught the blast on his cell phone, but only released it this week
Jeff Tobola had just wrapped up another work day and picked up his son in West, Texas, when he heard the city's fertilizer plant was on fire.
Why not check it out?
"I noticed I could see the flames," Tobola said. "I went like, yeah, that's a good sized fire, and so it just drew me a little bit closer."
Almost too close.
Tobola pulled out his cell phone to capture it on video, he hit record -- and then all hell broke loose.
Photos: Photos: Texas fertilizer plant explodes
Photos: Photos: Texas fertilizer plant explodes
Texas fertilizer plant explodes – Forensic mappers work the crater at the site of a fire and explosion in West, Texas, on April 24, 2013. The West Fertilizer Co. plant in the small Texas town exploded days earlier on April 17, killing 15 people.
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Photos: Photos: Texas fertilizer plant explodes
Texas fertilizer plant explodes – Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives search the bank of rail tracks for evidence at the site of the explosion.
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Photos: Photos: Texas fertilizer plant explodes
Texas fertilizer plant explodes – Search and rescue workers comb through what remains of a 50-unit apartment building, in foreground, and a nursing home on April 18, 2013.
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Photos: Photos: Texas fertilizer plant explodes
Texas fertilizer plant explodes – The remains of an apartment complex lie on cars.
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Photos: Photos: Texas fertilizer plant explodes
Texas fertilizer plant explodes – A deer head mount sits inside a car parked next to an apartment complex damaged in the explosion.
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Photos: Photos: Texas fertilizer plant explodes
Texas fertilizer plant explodes – A Valley Mills Fire Department firefighter walks through the remains of an apartment complex next to the fertilizer plant.
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Photos: Photos: Texas fertilizer plant explodes
Texas fertilizer plant explodes – Smoke rises from the rubble of a house next to the fertilizer plant.
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Photos: Photos: Texas fertilizer plant explodes
Texas fertilizer plant explodes – A railroad boxcar lies on its side near the plant.
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Photos: Photos: Texas fertilizer plant explodes
Texas fertilizer plant explodes – A Texas State Trooper stops people from entering a neighborhood near the plant.
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Photos: Photos: Texas fertilizer plant explodes
Texas fertilizer plant explodes – A chimney is the only part of a home left standing after the explosion.
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Photos: Photos: Texas fertilizer plant explodes
Texas fertilizer plant explodes – Brandon Smith removes broken glass from the West Thrift Shop.
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Photos: Photos: Texas fertilizer plant explodes
Texas fertilizer plant explodes – Search and rescue workers comb through what remains of a 50-unit apartment building.
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Photos: Photos: Texas fertilizer plant explodes
Texas fertilizer plant explodes – The West Fertilizer Co. lies in ruins.
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Photos: Photos: Texas fertilizer plant explodes
Texas fertilizer plant explodes – A sheriff's deputy comforts a woman at a command post.
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Photos: Photos: Texas fertilizer plant explodes
Texas fertilizer plant explodes – Remains of the fertilizer plant burn in the early morning after the explosion.
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Photos: Photos: Texas fertilizer plant explodes
Texas fertilizer plant explodes – Water is sprayed on the remains of the plant.
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Photos: Photos: Texas fertilizer plant explodes
Texas fertilizer plant explodes – With smoke rising in the distance, a law enforcement officer runs a checkpoint at the perimeter about half a mile from the plant.
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Photos: Photos: Texas fertilizer plant explodes
Texas fertilizer plant explodes – Waco Police spokesman William Swanton speaks to reporters about the explosion.
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Photos: Photos: Texas fertilizer plant explodes
Texas fertilizer plant explodes – Glass from blown-out windows lies shattered on the sidewalk and street after the blast.
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Photos: Photos: Texas fertilizer plant explodes
Texas fertilizer plant explodes – Shattered glass covers items in front of a thrift store.
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Photos: Photos: Rebuilding in West, Texas
Photos: Photos: Rebuilding in West, Texas
Rebuilding in West, Texas – Eleanor Castro sits in her home in West, Texas. Her property was damaged by the fertilizer plant explosion a year ago that claimed 15 lives.
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Photos: Photos: Rebuilding in West, Texas
Rebuilding in West, Texas – An aerial photograph taken on Tuesday, April 15, shows the area affected by the explosion. The blast destroyed 120 homes and damaged 200 others across 37 blocks.
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Photos: Photos: Rebuilding in West, Texas
Rebuilding in West, Texas – A wooden cross memorial with a tattered flag sits near the site of the explosion. Residents say their faith has been instrumental in coping with the tragedy.
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Photos: Photos: Rebuilding in West, Texas
Rebuilding in West, Texas – Mayor Tommy Muska discusses the town's recovery efforts. "We're going to have a new normal someday," he says.
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Photos: Photos: Rebuilding in West, Texas
Rebuilding in West, Texas – A fence surrounds the barren site of West Fertilizer Co. Twelve months later, authorities haven't pinpointed the cause of the blast.
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Photos: Photos: Rebuilding in West, Texas
Rebuilding in West, Texas – A damaged home remains boarded up in a hard-hit neighborhood.
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Photos: Photos: Rebuilding in West, Texas
Rebuilding in West, Texas – John Raimer stands in front of a house in West, Texas, that was built by 60 volunteers from Oklahoma and Arkansas. Raimer is the construction chief for the West Long-Term Recovery Center.
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Photos: Photos: Rebuilding in West, Texas
Rebuilding in West, Texas – Work to rebuild the area surrounding the blast continues. "We can see something happening," says Dr. George Smith, West's director of emergency medical services. "There is light at the end of the tunnel."
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2013: Watch fertilizer plant explode 00:54
The plant exploded sending a deadly shock wave through the tight-knit community of 2,800 people, many of them of Czech heritage.
"What I was thinking ... as it exploded ... is, 'am I going to be able to hear when this stops? Is this gonna burn me?' Because, I was like 200 yards away from it."
When it was all over 15 people were dead, 120 homes destroyed and 200 more damaged.
In the fraction of a second before the explosion, the video shows a brilliant flash of light, followed by a massive shock wave -- a dome of energy rippling from the blast.
"It definitely was the biggest explosion I've ever seen," said Tobola. "It seems like it lasted forever."
Tobola only released the video this week on the eve of the first anniversary of the April 17, 2013, blast.
"It just wasn't the time or place," he said. "I had a lot of friends that passed in the fire."
