Man dies of injuries after Carrollton home explosion believed to be linked to natural gas
A North Texas man who was injured in an explosion believed to be linked to natural gas at his Carrollton home in January has died, his family’s attorney said in a news release Thursday.
“We are heartbroken to confirm the passing of Sergio Valdez, age 51, on February 17, 2024,” said attorney Jesus Garcia Jr. “Mr. Valdez was a loving, dedicated husband, father, grandfather, and friend who will be dearly missed.”
Valdez suffered severe burns on his arms and face in the Jan. 20 explosion and was transported to a local hospital.
The cause of the explosion was under investigation, but Fire Chief Michael Thompson told KXAS-TV that an underground gas leak may have gotten into the sewer pipe at the residence and built up in a bathroom. The blast ignited when someone lit a cigarette around 3:45 a.m.
Valdez and his wife, Raquel Garcia, filed a lawsuit against Atmos Energy shortly after the explosion and asked for over $1 million in damages.
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Jesus Garcia called Valdez an “innocent victim” in “Atmos Energy’s consistent, and well-documented, operational negligence,” according to the release.
“We will ensure Mr. Valdez’s family gets the answers they’re desperately seeking following this needless tragedy,” Garcia said.
The explosion at the Carrollton home came less than two weeks after a Jan. 8 explosion that blew out windows and walls on the first two floors of the Sandman Signature Hotel in downtown Fort Worth. Two stories of debris collapsed into the basement, where the blast is thought to have originated, and 21 people were injured.
The cause of that explosion remains under investigation, but fire officials think it was connected to natural gas. At least nine lawsuits including 33 plaintiffs have been filed in the wake of the hotel explosion.
According to a lawsuit filed by Atmos Energy against the property owner Northland Developments, someone at the Sandman hotel called the gas company to report a leak about 11 minutes before the blast.
The Atmos representative told the caller to evacuate the building, but there’s no evidence the hotel staff tried to follow those instructions, the company’s lawsuit against Northland Properties states. Atmos argues that the leak originated inside the building, for which the property owner is responsible.
