Man posts video of gas leak days before Northwest Dallas house explosion

Two days before the deadly Northwest Dallas house explosion and less than two miles away, a man posted on Facebook images of gas bubbling up in the alley behind his home.

Atmos responded to the homeowner's complaints. However, workers said they would return in five days to make repairs.

Jed Allsup lives a mile and a half from where 12-year-old Michellita Roger's house exploded last Friday and within the zone where gas service was shut off on Thursday.

Atmos shuts off gas service to 2,800 Northwest Dallas homes

Allsup recorded video of gas bubbling up from the pavement after a heavy rain on February 21, just two days before the Espanola Drive explosion.

"My instant reaction was to call Atmos and report, ‘This doesn't seem right,’” he recalled.

Within a couple of hours, Allsup says the gas company sent someone out. But that worker informed him someone would repair the problem within 5 days.

"That was pretty much his answer,” Allsup recalled. “I said, ‘Is that flammable? Is it excitable? Should I worry about it? His response was like, ‘I'm not worried.’"

After the representative left, Allsup tested the gas release and ignited a small flame. He now agrees lighting it wasn't in his best judgment.  His follow-up video he posted on Facebook prompted Atmos to return the same day.

"An hour and a half to two hours later, a representative knocked on my door and said he was a regional supervisor and they were going to investigate and possibly repair the gas leak immediately,” Allsup said. “About an hour later, they had some tractors."

Atmos repaired the leak and replaced Allsup’s meter.

“This was two days before I heard about the folks involved in the accident a couple miles from here,” he said.