DALLAS (AP) — A huge fire destroyed a two-story apartment building in Dallas on Thursday, causing fatalities and injuring at least four people, and the search for the missing is ongoing, a fire official said.
The blaze sent huge plumes of black smoke into the sky and drew a massive firefighter response.
“There have been fatalities at this point,” Dallas Fire-Rescue Deputy Chief Mark Berry said at a news conference, adding the mission has changed from rescue to recovery. “Let us work through the recovery phase and get a total number.”
Dozens of firefighters searched through the smoldering rubble of the building on the outskirts of downtown Dallas Thursday afternoon, even as colleagues continued to drench the blackened debris.
Berry said firefighters were responding to a call of a gas leak when an explosion happened.
“We had the cavalry coming,” Berry said, “But the explosion had already taken place.”
City officials said there was no city maintenance work being done at the scene at the time of the explosion.
Assistant Chief James Russ of Dallas Fire-Rescue said during an earlier news conference that at least four people were taken to a hospital with injuries.
Firefighters rushed to the scene as flames and black smoke billowed into the sky. Some trained their hoses on piles of smoking debris while others removed lumber and other burned wreckage to look for anyone trapped underneath. Little more than a blackened shell of the original building remained.
“The fire is contained, but our members are still working on the scene to do primary searches,” Russ said.
Authorities set up a family reunification center at a nearby high school. Several hours after the blaze, Frances Rizo was still trying to find her friend who lived in the building.
“She’s not answering her phone,” Rizzo said.
Julie Jensen said she was at home less than a block from the burning building when she heard a noise like an explosion that left her ears ringing.
“I was sitting on my couch watching TV — stuff flew off our walls,” Jensen said.
Jensen said she saw rising smoke and neighbors running when she looked out the window. She grabbed her family’s cat and left, finding a nearby parking lot to wait until she knew it was safe to return.
Sal De La Rosa was at work at a nearby auto repair shop when “all of a sudden we just heard and felt this huge boom.”
“We felt where the building kind of shook a little bit,” Del La Rosa said.
He said a co-worker went outside and saw thick, black smoke rising into the air.
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Associated Press journalists Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas, and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed.
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