Tank explosion injures 3, ignites grass fires in Dallas

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 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 a half-mile area 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.

Parkland Hospital identified the two burn victims 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 from Methodist Dallas Medical Center.

The explosions began around 9:30 a.m. when a connector used to join acetylene tanks during the filling process malfunctioned, Lavender said.

A trailer at the facility’s dock area housed 100,000 cubic feet of acetylene gas before the explosion, authorities said.

The exploding tanks of acetylene likely posed no risks to air quality, said Jan Malone, a spokeswoman for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.