DALLAS — At least two people were injured when a series of large explosions at a gas facility showered nearby highways and buildings with flaming debris near downtown Wednesday.
A half-mile area surrounding the blasts was evacuated. Robert Behrens, a spokesman at Parkland Hospital said it was treating two unidentified patients in serious condition who were brought in after the explosion. Hospital officials did not know if they would get other patients.
It's unclear what caused the canisters, which contained acetylene and propane gas, to explode beginning about 9:30 a.m. and continuing for at least a half hour.
Video footage showed charred, smoldering metal wreckage at the site of Southwest Industrial Gases Inc., where the explosions occurred.
There were numerous small fires burning in the area caused by flaming debris, including about a dozen cars in a nearby parking lot and some grassy areas of a highway median.
"I thought it was artillery. It was just coming just boom, boom, boom," said witness Tony Love, a former Army soldier.
Dallas police Sgt. Gil Cerda said officers were controlling traffic around the area.
Traffic was closed at one of the state's busiest highway intersections, Interstates 30 and 35, and was being rerouted through city streets, a Texas Department of Transportation spokesman said.
Vanessa O'Brien said she was standing in a parking lot a few blocks away when she felt at least 20 vibrations from the explosion.
"We felt the whole building move and the windows rattle," she said.
Despite hazy skies, a black column of smoke was visible from at least 10 miles.
The Environmental Protection Agency's emergency responders were on the way to the scene, said Dave Bary, a spokesman for the agency's regional office. He said they will assist in monitoring the air, but had no information yet.
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A half-mile area surrounding the blasts was evacuated. Robert Behrens, a spokesman at Parkland Hospital said it was treating two unidentified patients in serious condition who were brought in after the explosion. Hospital officials did not know if they would get other patients.
It's unclear what caused the canisters, which contained acetylene and propane gas, to explode beginning about 9:30 a.m. and continuing for at least a half hour.
Video footage showed charred, smoldering metal wreckage at the site of Southwest Industrial Gases Inc., where the explosions occurred.
There were numerous small fires burning in the area caused by flaming debris, including about a dozen cars in a nearby parking lot and some grassy areas of a highway median.
"I thought it was artillery. It was just coming just boom, boom, boom," said witness Tony Love, a former Army soldier.
Dallas police Sgt. Gil Cerda said officers were controlling traffic around the area.
Traffic was closed at one of the state's busiest highway intersections, Interstates 30 and 35, and was being rerouted through city streets, a Texas Department of Transportation spokesman said.
Vanessa O'Brien said she was standing in a parking lot a few blocks away when she felt at least 20 vibrations from the explosion.
"We felt the whole building move and the windows rattle," she said.
Despite hazy skies, a black column of smoke was visible from at least 10 miles.
The Environmental Protection Agency's emergency responders were on the way to the scene, said Dave Bary, a spokesman for the agency's regional office. He said they will assist in monitoring the air, but had no information yet.
Discuss Add this link to... Bury
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