Witnesses and parents near W.H. Adamson High School shared fear and confusion after a massive apartment fire and explosion in Oak Cliff.
By Maria Salette Ontiveros,
Staff Writer
A four-alarm explosion and apartment fire at an apartment building in the 400 block of east 9th Street near Patton Avenue could be heard and felt blocks away, according to residents.
Phoebe Nwamsi, 42, who lives near Beckley Avenue and Canty Street, said she and her neighbors rushed outside after hearing what sounded “like a bomb.”
“It was a huge explosion,” Nwamsi told The Dallas Morning News. “The noise was so loud that it shook our house.”
Nwamsi said workers at a nearby dialysis center told her they could see smoke coming from the area. She later walked toward the scene and began recording video as firefighters responded to the blaze.
She said her sister, who lives in an apartment on the other side of the Bishop Arts district, also felt the blast shake her home.
Other nearby residents described hearing a loud boom on social media before seeing thick black smoke rising over North Oak Cliff. Some said pictures and objects fell from the walls inside their homes after the blast.
On social media, posts were flooded with questions from parents and community members asking whether children and staff at nearby W.H. Adamson High School were safe. The school sits a short distance from the apartment complex on East 9th Street. According to the school calendar, Tuesday was the last day of classes for the academic year.
A family assistance center has been established at the school.
Erick Posada, 17, was playing video games at his home near the apartment complex when he heard the explosion. His mother brought him and his 11-year-old brother to Adamson to get away from the blast scene. “The explosion felt like an earthquake,” he said.
Posada said he’d noticed gas crews working on a pipe in the days before the explosion.
Maria Salette Ontiveros has worked in the TV industry with KFOX and CBS in El Paso, Texas area.
