WEST — The moment of silence came at 7:51 p.m. Tuesday night, the same time on the same April 17 date five years earlier that a massive fertilizer plant explosion ripped through the small town of West.
Huddled together in the high school auditorium, close to 200 family, friends and community leaders gathered to honor the 15 people that lost their lives.
The moment of silence was only interrupted by the sound of a bell toll marking each victim.
“They gave their lives to help people,” said Mayor Tommy Muska. “They showed true courage.”
For those that survived the blast, it remains a defining moment.
Pee Wee Zahirniak lost his home in just a matter of seconds.
“By the time we got to the corner it blew, and pushed my pick up sideways,” he said. ““I thought someone broadsided me. These people that pulled up in back of us, said ‘Your house just blew away.’”
Close to 150 homes were either badly damaged or destroyed. The majority have since been rebuilt, as have the town’s water system and roads that were damaged.
There’s also a new West Rest Haven nursing home, as well as new middle and high schools.
As WFAA reported on Monday, an impressive memorial site just over the train tracks from the blast site is nearly finished.
But there are still questions about the events of that evening, and time has done little to provide solid answers.
ATF investigators are convinced the initial fire at the plant was intentionally set.
No one has ever been arrested, despite a $50,000 award and more than 400 investigative interviews.
"We can't go into detail about whether or not we have a suspect, but what I can tell you is there are folks we're looking at,” said special agent Nicole Strong. “All of the man and women who have worked on this have never stopped working. This case is far from cold.”
Mayor Pro Tem and one-time volunteer firefighter Steve Vanek says he still doesn’t believe it was arson.
“It was an accident, and I’ll tell them that to their face,” Vanek said. “In a small town, somebody would talk.”
At the memorial service, West’s volunteer firefighters wore red shirts in solidarity with their fallen brothers.
Victim’s families sat toward the front of the stage, some visibly emotional.
It’s estimated the explosion caused some $200 million dollars in damage.