Dallas explosion at apartment complex injures at least 1
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.
A large plume of black smoke can be seen rising over the scene.
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.
Neighbor recounts hearing explosion at Dallas apartment building
A resident who lives near an apartment building that apparently exploded and then caught fire recounts hearing the blast.
Sirois was initially worried that the smoke was coming from Adamson High School, which is nearby. School is out for the summer, but there were reportedly some teachers in the building.
No one at the school was hurt, but the school building is being used as a family assistance center for anyone affected.
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."
'Hawkeye' reports from scene of explosion at Dallas apartment building
Mark "Hawkeye" Louis reports from the scene of an apartment building in Dallas' Oak Cliff neighborhood after an explosion and fire.
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.
The Source: Information in this story came from Dallas Fire-Rescue and interviews with witnesses.