You would hope, but unfortunately it seems there were people on the scene attempting to deal with the fire. Seems like nobody realized how dangerous of a situation it was.
Well... at a time like this - if there was urban development around it... and you're a firefighter... either you fight the fire and do what you can to prevent the thing from going kaboom... or you just simply let it go kaboom and kill a lot of people in surrounding areas.
I assumed this was in a much more rural area and you could simply get to a minimum safe distance and roast some marshmallows. That's obviously not the case. Otherwise - I wouldn't be anywhere near a flaming fertilizer facility, as there's no reason to risk it.
Also they're saying a lot of homes in the surrounding area were completely demolished, others severely damaged including an apartment complex and a nursing home.
Jesus... that was a brilliant idea to build those so close to the plant (or vice-versa).
And now they're worrying about toxic fumes as well as a second fertilizer storage area that could explode.
Seems to be going from bad to worse.
I'm kind of surprised the thing didn't blow itself out with the first explosion. That all just sounds like poor planning on top of bad design on top of negligence.
I mean... potassium nitrate, ammonium nitrate, and all of the other fun stuff they work with are primary incredients in all kinds of explosives. Plants that manufacture and process fireworks all work based on cellular containment to prevent the whole thing from exploding. At worst - your main facility gets blown apart and you're left with your stores - or one of your stores goes and you're left with the rest of them and a little bit of damage to your main facility.
I guess I kind of figured that common sense would prevail and some similar system would exist at a fertilizer plant... because... you know... kaboom.