Lawsuit filed against Atmos in Carrollton house explosion
CARROLLTON - The man who was injured in a home explosion in Carrollton on Saturday filed a lawsuit against Atmos Energy.
The Carrollton fire chief said the blast was caused by gas leaking into a sewage line.
According to attorney Jesus Garcia, Sergio Valdez got up early Saturday morning to use the restroom when an explosion rocked the house, leaving him with severe burns on his arms and face.
Garcia says Valdez is still in the hospital recovering.
His wife and four children were also at home at the time of the blast but weren't injured.
"You wake up in the middle of the night and you see your husband or your father screaming in agony," Garcia said. "You don't know what happened. They are suffering right now."
Garcia says his law firm, Kherkher Garcia LLP, is now fighting for justice for Valdez's family. They filed a lawsuit against Atmos Energy, accusing the company of gross negligence and failing to properly monitor for gas leaks.
"The question is, what's happening?" he said. "What's going on? We're going to get to the bottom of it, certainly for this home."
Garcia says filing the lawsuit quickly gives the firm the ability to investigate alongside the other agencies looking into what happened.
An inspector with the Texas Railroad Commission has been at the site, and Atmos Energy crews are continuing work near the home as well.
"They are the ones that get paid when we obtain the gas from them," said Garcia. "They also have a duty to make sure that we are safe in our homes and our schools and our hospitals and hotels that we visit."
Atmos Energy has not said what its investigators believe caused this explosion.
This is the second lawsuit Kherkher Garcia LLP has filed against the company this month. They are also representing a man who was injured in the explosion at the Sandman Signature Hotel in downtown Fort Worth two weeks ago.
In that incident, Atmos Energy said its investigation found no indication its system was involved.