The National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report Wednesday stating that an underground natural gas line was not marked before a contractor’s drill rig struck it, triggering a deadly explosion and fire that destroyed The Clyde apartments in Dallas’ Oak Cliff neighborhood on May 28.
Dallas Fire-Rescue responded to a reported gas leak at the two-story building at 409 East 9th Street near Patton Avenue around 12:49 p.m. Two minutes later, crews notified Atmos Energy of a cut line. The explosion occurred about 1:15 p.m., leveling the structure in a five-alarm blaze. Three residents were killed: 79-year-old Sylvia Collins, 37-year-old Marisol Pérez, and her 18-month-old son, Erik Pérez Sanchez Jr. At least six others were injured and treated at a local hospital. Eight single-family homes and three apartment buildings in the immediate area were evacuated.
According to the NTSB report, a third-party contractor working for Engineering and Consulting Services Southwest submitted a Texas 811 ticket on May 21 for soil sampling work. While some gas assets were marked with paint and flags, the specific line hit by the drill rig operated by Barba Drilling had not been identified or marked. The 4-inch polyethylene main and service line, both installed in 1988, were part of the Atmos Energy system. Atmos crews arrived shortly after the blast and isolated the leak by squeezing the main line in two places…