On Tuesday, August 4, 2020, at approximately 6:07 p.m. local time, a catastrophic explosion devastated the Port of Beirut, Lebanon. The blast occurred when a fire in a warehouse ignited approximately 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive chemical compound that had been improperly stored at the port for six years despite numerous safety warnings. The resulting detonation was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history, releasing energy equivalent to roughly 1,100 tons of TNT