Among the victims of the explosion at the Southeast Dallas apartment building were three firefighters with Dallas Fire-Rescue. Officials announced that the firefighters were left in critical condition after the explosion on Wednesday.
Just before 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, firefighters received a call to the Highland Hills apartments about the smell of natural gas. An explosion occurred in the middle of the firefighters’ investigation, causing a partial collapse of the building.
The three injured firefighters were taken to Parkland Hospital and are expected to make full recoveries. While four injured firefighters were reported, the last one sustained an injury to his foot and was released that day after treatment.
Aside from the firefighters, three other individuals were also reportedly taken to Parkland hospital with minor injuries.
In statements originally obtained by NBCDFW, Dallas Fire-Rescue Medical Director Marshal Isaacs, in a joint news release with Dallas Fire-Rescue Chief Dominique Artis on Wednesday afternoon, declined to give details of the specific injuries recorded. “We are not going to get into the details of their specific injuries other than to say they were critically injured, but we are very optimistic that they will survive and have a full recovery,” he said.
Artis stated that he never wants to hear reports of cases like this on the other end of the line. “When you hear a mayday call from your firefighters, your heart sinks because that means somebody is trapped or injured,” he said.
The Dallas Fire-Rescue officials told the media that multiple local, state, and federal agencies would jointly investigate the explosion. According to NBCDFW, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson and Police Chief Eddie Garcia paid a visit to the injured and their families at the hospital.
Witnesses of the explosion commend the Dallas fire department, saying they did a great job. One of them is Timothy Davis, who noted the danger involved in the job. “I think they did an incredible job, man,” he said. “It’s really dangerous, and they’re some brave adversaries, so I tip my hat off to them.”