Dallas Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Worker's Wrongful Death Claim Resulting From Gas Explosion Wins At Trial - Dallas Texas

A jury awarded $82.5 million to the family of a natural gas worker who was killed in an explosion at a processing plant when he tried to restart a hot oil heater. In 2007, Joshua Wade Petrie, 27, was working for Quicksilver Resources at its plant in Cleburne. The plant, which was built in the early 1980s, was purchased by Hanover Compression in 2004, which sold it to Quicksilver. Petrie was killed when gas had accumulated in the area of the burners. When Petrie tried to light one of the burners, the heater exploded. His family claimed that Hanover and Quicksilver were on notice that the heater didn't meet national fire protection standards and Hanover failed to comply with the hazard analysis recommendations and it improperly installed the heater. The jury found Hanover 90 percent negligent and Quicksilver 10 percent negligent.

For more information regarding wrongful death claims in Texas, go to www.injurylawyerdallastexas.com.

Texas Gas Explosion Kills At Least One In Johnson County

Investigators returned to the scene of a deadly natural gas explosion in rural Johnson County this morning to determine its cause.

The spectacular 2:45 p.m. explosion, along a gas line midway between Cleburne and Granbury on Georges Creek Ranch, killed one person, rocked homes miles away and shot flames into the air that could be seen just outside Fort Worth, about 30 miles to the north.

This morning, utility workers checked power lines at a nearby electrical substation, while the owners of the property bisected by the 36-inch-line surveyed the charred scene, where the the smell of smoke still hung heavy..

Johnson County officials said the rupture, which occurred about 2:45 p.m. Monday, was caused by a work crew using heavy-duty digging equipment in the area.

The Texas Railroad Commission will lead the investigation into the explosion. Officials with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will also look into it.

The explosion seared acres of prairie and could be felt more than five miles away.

"My whole building was shaking," said Carolyn Black, who lives about five miles away from the explosion site. "It sounded like someone landing a big Jumbo 747 in the backyard."

"It was a digger that digs a hole for a power pole," said Cleburne Fire Chief Clint Ishmael. "It's an auger for a high-transmission power line, and that's what they were working on, and they drilled into a 36-inch high-pressure natural gas line.

"Something went terribly wrong."