Irving family safely escapes home after gas line explosion

A family of five was able to escape their home uninjured after an explosion Monday morning in Irving.

The explosion happened at a home in the 3500 block of Colgate Lane. Someone in the neighborhood first noticed the smell of a suspicious odor Sunday afternoon and called the Irving Fire Department. Firefighters couldn’t pinpoint the exact location of the odor, which appeared to be natural gas, and called Atmos Energy. They began digging up part of the road near the De La Cruz family home. The work continued into the night.

“Like 2 or 3 in the morning, it started smelling really like gas,” said Alejandra de La Cruz. “So my mom went out there to ask again if we needed to evacuate. And they’re like, ‘No everything is fine.’”

So the family went to bed. Around 4 a.m. on Monday is when part of the house exploded. Alejandra De La Cruz's mother took a direct hit.

“Out of nowhere, part of the roof fell on top of her and there was already fire. She was able to get it off of her, and she just started screaming and the windows exploded,” she recalled. “My mom went out there screaming, ‘We need help! The house is on the fire!’”

Firefighters who were monitoring the Atmos crew immediately got to work. They extinguished the flames and rescued some of the family's dogs hidden under a bed.

“They got on it pretty quickly and got it knocked down but it was through the attic almost immediately,” explained Irving FD Assistant Chief J. Taylor. “We had one firefighter bitten by a dog as they tried to rescue it. He'll need some stitches, but that’s okay.

Atmos did not provide an on-camera interview. In a statement said during the investigation of the gas leak, an ignition occurred at a nearby residence. Currently, gas has been shut off to the affected home to make the area safe.

FOX 4 News is on YouTube http://bit.ly/fox4subscribe