Dallas home explosion leaves man badly burned, cause under investigation

DALLAS - A Dallas man is in the hospital with burns over 80 percent of his body after an explosion at a home on Wofford Drive this Thanksgiving.

On Thursday, Nov. 23, a detached guesthouse located behind the Southeast Dallas home exploded.

"We were at the kitchen cooking, and we just heard a boom," said homeowner Vanessa Escobar.

Escobar and eight family members were inside the main house when the guesthouse exploded just before 5:30 p.m. Thursday.

"I went to the back of the house and everything blew up," she explained.

Francisco Gorostieta

34-year-old Francisco Gorostieta was inside the guesthouse when it happened.

Escobar says Gorostieta has lived there for the past two years. 

He does flooring with some of her family members.

"They took him out brought him to the front and he seemed like he was in shock. He didn't know what to say. He didn't talk at all," Escobar recalled.

He was taken to Parkland Hospital.

Escobar says he has second-degree burns on 80 percent of his body.

"His face, chest, arms, legs, some of his back," she said. "He didn't even realize the house had exploded, He doesn't know anything doesn't really remember the moment."

At the request of Dallas Fire-Rescue, Atmos Energy says it sent "highly-trained technicians" to check gas lines to the property.

Atmos Energy released a statement saying, in part, "Our investigation confirmed our system is operating normally. We have found no evidence that our system was involved."

The blast was so strong it broke several windows at the home next door.

"A lot of stuff fell off the walls, my TV fell off the wall," said neighbor Michael Polk.

Polk, a renter, says he may have to move out.

Escobar and her family are displaced too.

As Dallas Fire-Rescue works to determine the cause of the explosion, Escobar says her focus is on Gorostieta's recovery since he has no family here.

"He's terrible. He's bad, really bad," she said.

Escobar does have homeowner's insurance, but she doesn't know how long it will take to make repairs to her living room and kitchen, which were heavily damaged by the blast.

Gorostieta is lucid and can speak, but his road to recovery will be a long one.

At this time, there is no word on when the fire marshall's investigation might be complete.