Dallas Fire near the local SPCA facility

There is a fire in downtown Dallas, at a gas storage company containing various gases, such as oxygen and acetaline (sp?). A truck caught fire and then caught the building on fire. With all of the exploding cannisters, there is a lot of smoke and shrapnel. The shrapnel is causing other fires. I-35 and I-30 have been closed since it began (major roads here).

Everyone within half a mile has been evacuated - which includes the staff at the SPCA. Unfortunatey it is not safe enough to rescue the animals at this point. The SPCA is in the process of moving quarters, so once the animals can be removed the plans are to move them to newly completed SPCA office areas.

Burn victims are starting to arrive at the hospitals.

Please send vibes for the people and animals involved.

Oh no! My prayers are with them!

Oh no!!! Definately keeping the people and animals in my thoughts....and sending mega vibes out to them!!

Oh I hope the animals will be ok! Lots of vibes that the fire doesn't spread or the kitties aren't hurt with smoke

That's not a good situation. The people and animals affected are in my thoughts.

All people and animals involved are in my thoughts and prayers.

Wow. I've been watching local coverage, and it looks like everything went as well as it possibly could have. Apparently, the two men who were burned are not as badly hurt as was originally thought, so that's good news. Another man hurt his back when he jumped out of his truck and also went to the hospital... but as far as they know, nobody else was hurt, and nobody is missing. A miracle, since those gas canisters were flying around like bombs for awhile!

Also, there seems to be no problem with toxic smoke, because these are "clean-burning" fuels, and the winds are light and have allowed the fumes to rise and dissipate. They're working now to make sure that the heat and shock haven't damaged any of the elevated roadways around the area, so they can let traffic through again.

I don't know whether they've allowed anyone back in at the SPCA yet or not, but they say the workers there moved the animals inward, away from the windows, in case the windows blew out -- which evidently did not happen. So it sounds like the critters are okay!

There was an amazing piece of video taken right at the start of the incident, shot from on the ground very close to the original, smallish fire: you can see the stream of water from a hose being operated by the manager of the business as he stood on a roof, trying to keep the canisters close to the flames cool, so they wouldn't explode as well. But they do explode, one by one, and then apparently several at a time, creating a fireball that rolls right over where the man with the hose is standing (he is not visible, just behind the edge of a building), and the stream of water stops for a moment a couple of times when these fireballs occur, but then it reappears as the guy gets up and keeps trying! What dedication! Eventually, though, he was blown back by an explosion, and he's one of those now in the hospital with burns. A very brave man.

I hope the reports are right, and everyone will be okay. There are still lots of little fires, but for the most part, they seem to be sort of like lamps -- there are racks of canisters, and each appears to be topped with a flame, burning only at its valve. Certainly it's possible that more canisters will still explode, but it's been quite awhile since there was anything major, so maybe they'll let the SPCA people go in and feed the animals soon.

What a day!

That is horrible My prayers are with those people and animals affected by this.

Oh that man was awful brave! I sure hope he will be ok!

Got some more accurate details:

First, the SPCA animals are all fine -- no problems for them at all! And I admire both the SPCA staff and the police who evacuated them for taking time to move the animals to the safest possible place before they left. Good people.

And it was both the owner and the manager who were wrangling that hose, trying to keep the fire from igniting the rest of the canisters. One of them has been upgraded to Fair condition, but the other remains Serious. Both are expected to survive, though.

The owner of the business lives in a house that's right there onsite, and it was destroyed -- so he's lost everything he owned, and he's going to be in treatment for burns for at least a few weeks.

But there was good news for him, too: at the hospital, a reporter spoke with his son, and it turns out that the son had been given up for adoption when he was a baby, and was finally reunited with his father just six weeks ago. He said, "I haven't been there for him for a lot of things, but I'm gonna be there for this."

Oh -- and the business has never had a single safety violation in its entire history, since 1990... there's no suspicion of negligence at all. It was just an accident, apparently caused by a faulty "pigtail" connector on one of the canisters on a truck parked on the site.

Thanks for the update!

That is so wonderful about the man and his son. I have been praying for them off and on as it's come to my mind. For some reason this story has just stuck with me.