1/ Imagine lighting a match or flipping a light switch – the space around you ignites in a ball of flame, severely burning you or your family...
2/ More than two dozen homes have exploded in North Texas since 2006. The state could put financial pressure on the gas company to improve safety – but it usually doesn’t. interactives.dallasnews.com/2018/time-bomb/
3/ Fires and explosions along a massive network of pipelines owned and operated in Texas by @AtmosEnergy have resulted in at least 9 deaths and more than 22 serious injuries since 2006. interactives.dallasnews.com/2018/time-bomb/ 
4/ The Mendez family had gotten home from a Cowboys watch party when turning on a light caused their home to explode. The 90-year-old iron gas pipes behind their house had a crack. interactives.dallasnews.com/2018/time-bomb/
5/ Old cast-iron natural gas pipes (as seen here) are vulnerable to corrosion, cracks and have been involved in several fatal explosions nationally. Federal regulators have recommended their removal since the 1980s.
6/ Records show Atmos’ Mid-Tex division – which covers DFW – has one of the country’s oldest systems. interactives.dallasnews.com/2018/time-bomb/
7/ @AtmosEnergy has blamed the explosion at the Mendez home on lightning -- and a leaking stove, not its old pipes. It says it puts safety first. You can read their full statement here: documentcloud.org/documents/4906…
8/ Atmos Energy’s Mid-Tex division has logged more pipeline safety citations than any other system its size in Texas – over 2,000 of them. interactives.dallasnews.com/2018/time-bomb/
9/ The state could impose stiff fines on Atmos for safety violations, but often doesn’t. Safety experts decry the lack of punishment as a “horrible signal.” interactives.dallasnews.com/2018/time-bomb…
10/ Members of the Railroad Commission (which regulates Atmos) have at times received over half of their campaign funding from the very businesses they are tasked with regulating, according to reports.interactives.dallasnews.com/2018/time-bomb…
11/ No agency tracks all residential natural-gas accidents, so we did it ourselves. Read more about how. interactives.dallasnews.com/2018/time-bomb…
