BORGER, TX — One person died following an explosion at an apartment complex on Saturday, October 25th, 2014. The article from the Amarillo Glove said that the explosion happened just before 9:00 Saturday morning.
Police said that an unidentified person died when there was an explosion at a six unit apartment complex on North Deahl Street. Authorities said that one person was found dead in the rubble. Police are still trying to determine the cause of the explosion, but the news said that residents at the apartments had been complaining of gas odors for months.
The victim was pronounced dead on the scene. It is not clear how many injuries were reported after the incident.
The Borger Police are working to figure out what caused the blast.
Scene of the Accident
Commentary:
In the news, I see reports that tenants in this apartment had noticed the smell of gas for months before the explosion. I’m wondering what may have been done by the apartment complex to find the source and fix the problem, if they did anything at all. Now, if there were complaints made to the apartment management, and nothing was done, there could be some liability on their shoulders. On the other hand, the utilities company could also bear some liability depending on the source of the explosion. In many situations, a renter takes possession of a property when they rent it. Meaning, if somebody rents a place where the lawn is their responsibility, and their failure to cut the grass causes somebody to trip and fall, then the landlord would not be faulted, the renter would. With gas pipes and things of that nature, the renter is almost never responsible for something this technical – in which case the owner of the property could be faulted. Also, the utility company may own the machinery that regulates the gas on the property, in which case the property owner would not be at fault, the utility company would. Think of a cable company owning fiber optics cables that run into your house that by some odd scenario cause an accident. In this case the cable company, not the property owner would be faulted. As you can see, these things can be far more complex than what we see at first glance, and all it would take to simplify things is a closer look.
— Grossman Law Offices
