Residents of a Dallas apartment complex are facing a second night away from their homes after a natural gas leak was capped, with safety checks still under way before the building can be reoccupied.
Atmos Energy crews discovered the leak outside the Alexan Riveredge Apartments on Turtle Creek Boulevard during a routine inspection on Friday evening. The inspection followed a separate kitchen fire on the fourth floor, which was quickly brought under control by the sprinkler system and firefighters. No one was injured.
Although no gas was detected inside the five-storey, 325-unit building, the complex was evacuated as a precaution and its electricity was turned off. The property is understood to be about 90 per cent occupied.
Gas leak capped at Alexan Riveredge Apartments
Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesman Jason Evans said technicians capped both the main 16-inch gas line and a parallel three-inch line on Saturday evening, bringing the active leak to an end.
Crews are now monitoring the air around the site. Power must be restored and the building declared safe before residents can return, but officials have not given a timetable for re-entry.
Atmos Energy said gas service to the apartment complex and six nearby businesses on Levee Street could remain disrupted until Tuesday while further work is completed.
Dallas’s Office of Emergency Management and Crisis Response worked with Dallas Area Rapid Transit, which provided buses for temporary shelter. Most residents found somewhere else to stay or booked hotel rooms, while the American Red Cross arranged overnight accommodation for those who needed it.
The evacuation began after the leak was found near the Alexan Riveredge Apartments at 120 Turtle Creek Boulevard in Dallas’s Stemmons Corridor.
