Hundreds of residents at a Dallas apartment complex spent Friday night scrambling for hotel rooms or Red Cross help after a gas leak forced an overnight evacuation. The leak struck the Alexan Riveredge Apartments on Turtle Creek Boulevard, sending Atmos Energy crews scrambling to shut off natural gas service to the property as a precaution while hundreds of displaced tenants waited outside.
The disruption began after a kitchen fire broke out around 3 p.m. Friday in a fourth-floor unit, which sprinklers and firefighters quickly extinguished. According to a Dallas Fire-Rescue statement reported by CBS News, the gas leak response began around 7:30 p.m. that evening after Atmos Energy performed a routine inspection following the fire, which was not believed to be connected to the leak. As reported by NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, the gas leak prompted hundreds of residents to evacuate the complex, with some needing hotels or Red Cross assistance for overnight lodging.
Although no natural gas readings were detected inside the five-story building, crews shut off power and evacuated all residents from the 325-unit complex, which was roughly 90 percent occupied at the time, per the same CBS News account. The precautionary scale of the response underscores just how seriously Dallas Fire-Rescue and Atmos Energy are treating even unconfirmed leaks these days.
DART Buses and Emergency Managers Step In
During the evacuation, Dallas Area Rapid Transit dispatched buses to Turtle Creek Boulevard to give displaced residents a climate-controlled place to wait while crews worked on repairs, the CBS News report notes. The City of Dallas Department of Emergency Management and Crisis Response was also called in to help Dallas Fire-Rescue with crowd control during the evacuation, according to the same source.
Atmos Energy personnel remained at the scene to make necessary repairs, per NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth's reporting. In a statement, the utility said the safety of the public, its employees, and its system is its highest priority, and it thanked the City of Dallas and Dallas Fire-Rescue for their support during the response.
A City Still on Edge After a Fatal Blast
The evacuation comes less than four months after a natural gas explosion and five-alarm fire destroyed The Clyde apartment building in Dallas's Oak Cliff neighborhood on May 28, killing three people and injuring five others, according to Wikipedia. A preliminary National Transportation Safety Board report found that an underground natural gas pipeline had been left unmarked before soil-sampling drillers struck the line, as reported by Fox 4 News.
What Residents Should Do During a Leak
State rules add another layer of oversight to how these situations are supposed to unfold. Under Title 16, Chapter 8 of the Texas Administrative Code, natural gas utilities must maintain written procedures for handling leak complaints, according to the Legal Information Institute.
Anyone who suspects a natural gas leak should leave the area immediately and call 911 from a safe distance, per NBC 5's report on Atmos Energy's guidance. Residents can also reach Atmos Energy's 24-hour toll-free emergency number at 866.322.8667.
