\u201cNicked gas line.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCrew on site.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGas is leaking.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sparse but chilling details in a report show that the firm overseeing a soil analysis at the site of a deadly Oak Cliff apartment explosion<\/a> earlier this week reported a drilling company damaged a gas line near the building.<\/p>\n Texas811 records reviewed by The Dallas Morning News indicate the damage was caused by a rig boring for soil samples. ECS Limited, a national engineering consulting firm with an office in Carrollton, reported the issue.<\/p>\n Austin-based O-SDA Industries had plans to buy the Oak Cliff property to build low-income housing for seniors. Megan Lasch, the company\u2019s president, said she hired ECS to provide a geotechnical report, in which engineers analyze soil, rock and groundwater conditions before designing foundations.<\/p>\n An ECS Limited spokesperson told The News in an email that none of its employees were on site at the time of the explosion. They declined to comment further, citing the ongoing investigation. Authorities have connected the explosion to a gas leak but have not provided further details.<\/p>\n The records said the line was damaged with a drill rig by Barba Drilling, and a charred truck at the scene was registered to Barba Drilling Co. Manuel Barba, listed in records as the company\u2019s manager, did not respond to phone calls, text messages or voicemails seeking comment.<\/p>\n Officials said three people were killed and at least five others were injured<\/a>\u00a0in Thursday\u2019s blast at The Clyde apartments in the 400 block of East 9th Street, near Patton Avenue. The tragedy is one of the deadliest gas explosions in the city since 2018, when a leak and subsequent explosion in northwest Dallas claimed the life of a 12-year-old girl.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is absolutely catastrophic,\u201d said Geoff Henley, a Dallas attorney representing the current property owner, who was not involved in the digging work. \u201cA variety of things had to go wrong for this to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n A week before the explosion, an employee from ECS Limited\u2019s Carrollton office submitted a request to mark utilities to Texas811, the agency that coordinates the location of underground lines before drilling. The drilling was to take place after 10 a.m. May 26, last one day, and was described as \u201cBore-Auger-Soil Sample.\u201d The equipment to be used was described as a \u201cDrill Rig.\u201d<\/p>\n Four boring sites close to the apartments were described; none were inside buildings.<\/p>\n Once a ticket is put in, Texas811 dispatches contractors in and around the drilling site, highlighting where gas, water and sewer lines are located, typically with flags or spray paint. Drilling is supposed to begin only after utility lines are marked.<\/p>\n An ECS spokesperson said the utility lines were marked prior to the work. It\u2019s unclear from the records when the drilling took place.<\/p>\n A Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesman said the department was first alerted to a gas leak at The Clyde at 12:47 p.m. Thursday. Crews arrived roughly two minutes later, expecting to help residents evacuate, when the explosion sent the complex up<\/a> in flames.<\/p>\n Estefania Herrera, who lives at a neighboring apartment property, said she heard a worker mention a pipeline minutes before the boom.<\/p>\n Herrera had just returned from work and was walking across the street to pick up her children from a friend\u2019s apartment when she noticed a worker pacing, wiping sweat from his face and trying to call someone.<\/p>\n “The pipeline, the gas pipeline,” she heard the man say.<\/p>\n According to Texas811, an excavator must immediately call 911 when a gas line has been damaged or hit. It\u2019s unclear who first called 911 to report the leak in Oak Cliff. The News has requested emergency call records from the city. ECS would not say whether their employees called 911 to report the leak.<\/p>\n When an excavator hits a line, they also must notify Texas811.<\/p>\n The day of the explosion, records show, ECS called Texas811 describing the nicked gas line at one of the four boring sites. GPS coordinates on the request show the site is in front of the apartment building.<\/p>\n The records reviewed by The News list a bare-bones account of the situation: \u201cNicked Gas Line, Crew on site, Customer service unknown, Gas is leaking, Previous markings are visible.\u201d<\/p>\n The time listed on the records reporting the leak was 12:57\u00a0p.m., roughly eight minutes after the explosion took place. It\u2019s unclear when the report was called in.<\/p>\n Jason Brown, who works nearby at 8th Street and Beckley Avenue, said he felt his building shake when the apartment exploded.<\/p>\n \u201cThere must have been other events that happened,\u201d said Brown, gauging the magnitude of the blast and the pressure that must have built. \u201cIt seems like a chain reaction.\u201d<\/p>\n Brown, who is a developer but not involved in work at the site, said geotech reports are common practice before developing properties. Engineers and analysts who do this type of work are typically conducting either an environmental assessment to look for possible contamination or they\u2019re testing the soil makeup to help engineers determine how they\u2019re going to build a foundation, among other things, he said.<\/p>\n Brown said developers know to call Texas811 before digging, whether it\u2019s for gas lines or sprinklers. Chris Stovall, president and CEO of Texas811, said state law requires the nonprofit to be contacted two business days \u201cbefore any project begins, no matter what the size.\u201d<\/p>\n