Homes Still Evacuated After Waxahachie Blast

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WAXAHACHIE (CBSDFW.COM) - A portion of one Ellis County neighborhood remains empty on Tuesday after families were forced to evacuate Monday due to a house explosion. Authorities are investigating the situation as the result of a possible gas leak.

The explosion destroyed one home and damaged nine others, sending two people to the hospital with severe injuries. The two victims -- identified by family on Tuesday as 65-year-old Adele Chavez and her younger brother, Jamie Rodriguez -- remain at Parkland Hospital in Dallas.

The family said that Chavez suffered second-degree and third-degree burns, and will undergo surgery on Tuesday for a broken arm and skin grafts. Rodriguez suffered first-degree burns and is now in good condition.

"It could have taken out the whole community," said resident Brianna McKee.

Neighbors in the Saddlebrook Estates community felt and heard the blast from blocks away. But, instead of running from the commotion, many people went to help out the victims.

The community gathered again on Monday night to pray. Many residents are also looking for answers from Atmos Energy.

While the exact cause of the home explosion is still not known, Atmos Energy workers did locate what could be the source of a potential gas leak. Homeowners recall seeing some crews from the gas company in the neighborhood a couple of days prior to the Monday morning explosion.

Underground gas lines are marked by flags, as many new homes are under construction in this neighborhood.

Neighbors now want to know if there is a risk of such an explosion happening again. "Hopefully this is just a one-off accident, and it's related to what's happening," said Ismael Alfaro, "but, because a lot of the construction has been going on, a lot of the neighbors are just concerned, on edge, because of that."

Inspectors went home-to-home on Monday night, even beyond the evacuated area along Arabian Road, just to make sure that there were no other possible gas leaks. An update from officials is expected on Tuesday.

Major gas explosions are not unheard of in North Texas. Within just the past few years, there has been one in McKinney, one in Gainesville, and one in Lewisville which killed a man inside of his home. In these cases, Atmos Energy was criticized for not accurately marking its gas lines.

Meanwhile, evacuated families from 18 homes in Waxahachie spent Monday night in hotel rooms. There has been no word yet on when those residents might be able to return to their homes.