11 firefighters and medics confirmed killed at in Texas fertilizer plant blast

Authorities have confirmed that 11 firefighters and medics were killed last night in the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas - though at least three more people are feared dead as rescuers search the rubble for bodies. 

The State Firemen’s and Fire Marshals’ Association of Texas said in a statement on Thursday that six firefighters, four paramedics and one other first responder died Wednesday night as they battled a blaze the West Fertilizer Company.

'We were all volunteers.

 There was not one person that got paid to be there. Not one person that was ordered to go there,'  Brice Reed, an EMT with the West Volunteer Fire Department, told CNN. Reed also rushed into the blast zone, but survived and was visibly shaken as he spoke.

The volunteers were battling a fire at the plant last night when a tank of anhydrous ammonia - the same substance that fueled the 1995 Oklahoma City bombs - exploded with such force that it was felt 50 miles away and registered as a magnitude 2.1 earthquake.

Rescuers expect to find 14 bodies in the the rubble of the plant and the wreckage of 50 to 75 homes that were destroyed in the explosion.

Rubble: The fertilizer plant at West, Texas, was completely leveled after a devastating explosion that was felt by resident 50 miles away