Dallas Natural Gas Explosion
So I ran out to shoot what I could of the fire today and due to limited access wound up on the other side of the Trinity River looking back through the smoke at downtown. As the helicopters over head zoomed directly into the flames for live TV coverage this image has for me an ironic connection between the natural and the man made.
DALLAS, Texas (AP) — A series of explosions at a facility that sells liquefied natural gas sent flaming debris raining onto highways and buildings near downtown Dallas. At least three people were injured, hospital officials said.
Authorities evacuated a half-mile area surrounding the Southwest Industrial Gases Inc. facility and shut down parts nearby Interstates 30 and 35 as the explosions continued for more than half an hour. Video footage showed numerous small fires burning in the area as stacks of gas cylinders exploded.
Three hours after the explosions started, fire crews were hosing down the charred metal wreckage. About a dozen cars in a parking lot and a grassy highway median were damaged.
The canisters held acetylene and propane gas, said Texas Commission on Environmental Quality spokeswoman Andrea Morrow. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused them to begin exploding around 9:30 a.m. CT (10:30 a.m. ET).
“I thought it was artillery. It was just coming just boom, boom, boom,” said witness Tony Love, a former soldier.