DALLAS – An explosion and fire were reported on Thursday at an apartment building in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas.
Fire in Dallas
What we know:
The fire was reported around 1:15 p.m. near the corner of East 9th Street and North Patton Avenue.
According to Dallas Fire-Rescue, several victims have been reported. At least one person has been taken to a hospital for treatment.
Images from SKY 4 showed a small apartment complex that was fully engulfed in flames. The windows on neighboring buildings appeared to be blown out and debris was scattered across the street. There also appeared to be a utility truck that was affected by the fire.
A large plume of black smoke was reportedly visible in Dallas for miles away.
At about 2:30 p.m., DFR upgraded its response to four alarms with more than 100 firefighters.
What they’re saying:
Neighbors said they heard a loud boom, and they felt their own apartments shake.
“I was chilling in my living room and bam, loud explosion. I mean, what I now know to be an explosion. But I thought a car ran into my house was my guess. My dogs went nuts. I started to kind of check in just through the windows. I’m like, ‘What the hell was that?’ I walked outside and then some of my neighbors were already outside kind of looking to the east from Bishop Arts District and there was a massive plume of smoke,” said Mike Sirois, who lives nearby.
Sirois was initially worried that the smoke was coming from Adamson High School, which is nearby. Thankfully, it was not.
Dallas radio personality Hawkeye, from Hawkeye in the Morning on 96.3, was also in the area at the time.
“I just saw the flames, the smoke. You can see the smoke from about two miles away,” he said. “I didn’t hear the explosion, but I will tell you there are a number of ambulances here. I mean a ton of them here.”
What we don’t know:
While people in the area reported hearing an explosion, the exact cause of the fire is still unknown.
It’s still not yet clear how many people were in the building at the time and how many people were hurt in total.
Adamson High School Nearby
What we know:
The Dallas Independent School District confirmed that everyone is safe at Adamson High School, which is near where the explosion happened.
School is out for the summer, but there were reportedly some teachers in the building. Those staff members were sent home out of an abundance of caution, the district said.
The school building is now being used as a family assistance center for those who were affected by what happened.
The Source: Information in this story comes from Dallas Fire-Rescue, the Dallas Police Department, Dallas ISD, and interviews with witnesses.