Dallas – Flaming debris rained onto a busy highway during a series of explosions at a gas facility near the city’s dense downtown area, injuring three people and rattling windows and buildings blocks away.
Two people working at the Southwest Industrial Gases Inc. facility Wednesday were engulfed in the blast, Dallas Fire Department Lt. Joel Lavender said. Another man hurt his back while jumping out of his truck.
The explosions set off bursts of flames and a billowing stack of black smoke that could be seen for miles. Authorities evacuated an area within a half-mile radius of the facility and shut down portions of Interstates 30 and 35, where flaming debris ignited small grass fires next to the roads.
“I thought it was artillery. It was just coming just boom, boom, boom,” said witness Tony Love, a former Army soldier.
Although much of the fire and smoke was gone by late Wednesday, Lavender said firefighters continued to battle hot spots at the site.
The two burn victims were identified as Randal Bibb, 50, and Daniel McMurry, 56. Bibb was in serious condition, and McMurry was in fair condition. The truck driver was treated and released.
The explosions began about 9:30 a.m. when a connector used to join acetylene tanks during the filling process malfunctioned, Lavender said.
McMurry, a co-owner of the plant, and Bibb tried keeping the cylinders cool with a fire hose in the dock area but a fire ignited.
A trailer at the facility’s dock area housed 100,000 cubic feet of acetylene gas in individual containers before the explosion, authorities said.
