Head of Aid Group for West, Tex., Blast Victims Resigns

The director of the charity formed to steer millions of dollars in gifts to victims of April’s deadly explosion at a West, Tex., fertilizer plant is stepping down, The Dallas Morning News and TV station WFAA reports.

Karen Bernsen has faced criticism over the pace of aid distribution by the West, TX Foundation’s Long-Term Recovery Center. The charity has disbursed about $400,000 of the $3.6-million donation pool after the April 17 blast, which killed 15 people. Some residents called for her ouster after she wrote in a column in a local newspaper last month calling some of those affected by the explosion “ungrateful.”

Ms. Bernsen said that “the time was right to return my focus to my husband and our four young children.” Her resignation will be effective January 30 or as soon as a successor is appointed, the foundation announced.