Two natural gas explosions ripped through homes in the same Texas neighborhood Tuesday evening, injuring five people, including a child.
The first blast struck a home in the 15000 block of Preston Hollow Drive near Thousand Oaks Drive around 6 p.m., according to the San Antonio Express-News. A second house two doors away erupted roughly two hours later, San Antonio Fire Chief Valerie Frausto told reporters, according to CBS News. Occupants were inside both residences at the time. “The roof blew, there was sheet rock and insulation across the street,” Frausto said of the second explosion.
The injured included Kim Nowell, a math teacher at MacArthur High School, and her daughter, a student at the same school, KENS 5 reported. Northeast Independent School District (NEISD) officials confirmed the connection and notified parents through a letter from the school’s principal. (RELATED: Mom, 6 Kids Killed As US Home Explodes)
Neighbors told CBS News they never detected a gas odor after the first blast and had no warning of any further danger. Residents of the second home had been outside watching the emergency response before heading back indoors. “Those people had been outside with us, watching what was going on, and they went back inside the house and…then their house went up,” neighbor John Young told CBS News. “I mean, it went in flames.”
The NTSB is sending a team to investigate Tuesday’s natural gas‑fueled home explosions at two residences in the same San Antonio neighborhood that occurred about two hours apart. The team is expected to arrive today.
— NTSB Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) April 22, 2026
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) classified the blasts as natural gas-fueled and announced it would investigate why the block was not evacuated before the second explosion. Federal investigators are expected to publish a preliminary report within 30 days, according to KENS 5.
Frausto defended her department’s handling of the initial response. “We don’t know when these things happen, when there’s a gas leak, very hard to detect, and especially under these conditions, there’s sometimes no odor,” she said, according to CBS News.
Authorities shut off gas and power across the area, the outlet reported. Emergency crews evacuated 10 homes along the street, and three of the five hospitalized victims remained in critical condition as of Wednesday, including a child receiving burn treatment at a local trauma unit, according to KSAT.