AP PHOTO/LM OTERO
PLAYING
WITH FIRE
‘OUR NEIGHBOR’
The fertilizer facility in West had
always been a locally owned business, ingrained in the community
like the bakeries and restaurants
that have graced the downtown
streets for generations.
Small Texas towns are known
for being close-knit. But the kinship is even greater in West, where
families share the bonds of Czech
heritage, handed down from the
some of the original Texas settlers.
A local family opened the fertilizer plant in 1962 to help nearby
corn, cotton and sorghum farmers
who needed someone to supply
HUFFINGTON
04.28.13
fertilizer and other farm equipment in the area. West is located
on a major north-south railway,
making the location ideal as a
supply base for needed chemicals
and compounds for a broad area.
“It was really a necessity for
this community,” said Anthony
Rejcek, a third-generation farmer
whose family has done business
with the plant since the 1960s.
“There’s really nothing else like
it. People come from 50 miles
away to do business here.”
When the plant opened, it was
located far from West’s downtown area, mostly surrounded by
open farmland. But over the years
the town expanded north, with
more and more houses popping
Firefighters
search
the area
surrounding
the fertilizer
plant in the
early morning
hours on
April 18.