A natural gas leak prompted the evacuation of hundreds of residents from a Dallas apartment building Friday evening after firefighters had responded to a separate apartment fire earlier in the day.
Dallas Fire-Rescue was called to the Alexan Riveredge Apartments on Turtle Creek Boulevard shortly before 7:30 p.m. after Atmos Energy crews detected a potential gas issue during an inspection. Although firefighters did not find gas readings inside the building, officials evacuated residents as a precaution while crews worked to address the situation.
The apartment community is a five-story residential property near the Trinity River in Dallas’ Design District. Public property records identify the building as a five-story apartment complex at 120 Turtle Creek Boulevard.
Power to the building was turned off during the response. Dallas’ Department of Emergency Management and Crisis Response assisted at the scene, while DART buses were brought in to provide residents with a cooler place to wait as crews worked on the gas-related problem.
The evacuation followed a separate fire reported at the building around 3 p.m. Friday. Firefighters responded to a kitchen fire inside a fourth-floor apartment, and the blaze was quickly brought under control with help from the building’s sprinkler system.
No injuries were reported from that fire. Officials also said the earlier fire was not believed to be connected to the gas leak discovered later in the evening.
Residents were still waiting for information Friday night about when they would be allowed to return to their apartments. The timing depended on crews resolving the gas issue and determining that the building was safe to reoccupy.
The incident left hundreds of residents temporarily outside their homes as emergency crews and utility workers worked to make the building safe. No injuries were reported in connection with either the afternoon fire or the evening evacuation based on the information available at the time.
