May 28 (UPI) — At least four people were hospitalized Thursday when a gas leak at a Dallas apartment building triggered a massive explosion and a five-alarm fire, city officials and witnesses said.
The building in the city’s Oak Cliff neighborhood located just south of downtown was in flames when firefighters arrived at 12:49 p.m. CDT, 2 minutes after receiving calls about a gas leak, Dallas Fire Rescue Assistant Chief James Russ told reporters.
The intensity of the fire quickly necessitated a second alarm, he said.
“Shortly after it continued to escalate and upgrade, and at this time we are at a five-alarm fire,” the assistant chief said in an update delivered shortly before 4 p.m. “The fire is contained but our members are still working on the scene to do primary searches.”
Russ and firefighters launched a drone to canvas the area to “see if we have any victims around. At this time, it’s unknown how many possible fatalities we may have.”
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said the city is “going to do every single thing we have to do and that we need to do make sure that every affected family by this tragedy gets what they need.
“You have my commitment that we will do whatever we have to do to make sure that these folks are okay. But the most important thing right now is that we come together as a community and that we pray for everyone’s well-being.”
A family assistance center has been established at nearby high school, the mayor said.
Police urged residents to not go to near the fire scene as thick plumes of black smoke visible for miles rose above downtown Dallas.
Video from the scene showed a smoldering ruin where the apartment complex once stood.
Witnesses said they felt an explosion that shook the entire neighborhood.
“We live right here in the corner house, and we were inside, and then when we heard it, it was like a boom!” a nearby resident told KXAS-TV. “And at first I thought the tree fell on my house or something, or somebody hit my house because I live in the corner.
“So we came out here, and we’re just looking around, then we saw the smoke and the apartments have blew up.”
KXAS reported cited unnamed sources confirming that a contractor was working at the building and struck a gas line, triggering the explosion.
Some 11 residents remained unaccounted for in the hours after the explosion, the station reported.