After Dallas apartment explosion, burglaries and a fire add to residents’ uncertainty

Roshunda Tilley was whipping up steak fingers, mashed potatoes and green beans when a neighbor called with unsettling news: someone had set their SUV on fire.

The day before, Tilley and several residents of the Highland Hills Apartments had learned that their homes had been broken into overnight. TVs, PlayStation consoles, and games had been stolen from Tilley’s apartment.

Tilley had already faltered two weeks ago when an apartment building in southeast Oak Cliff exploded. She did not live in the building that was destroyed on September 29, but she stayed in hotels because utilities were shut down.

Tilley looks after nine children between the ages of 2 and 16. She also looks after her 25 year old daughter who is in a wheelchair. She said she learned about the SUV fire while at work. She cooked for her nonprofit employer who provides food insecure children with hot meals.

Dallas Fire-Rescue said the SUV fire was reported just before midnight Thursday, but there is no evidence. One person was arrested in connection with the break-ins, police say, but investigations are ongoing.

“I try to be strong for my children,” said Tilley. “I don’t want my children to see me cry; I will not do that. When you see me cry, you will think I gave up and I will never give up. I just do what I can. “

“Fear for your life”

Tilley and about 250 other residents displaced by the explosion have an uncertain future ahead of them.

Some of the buildings in the Highland Hills Apartments are still locked as the management company turned off water and gas in the Highland Hills Drive complex while assessing the damage. The detached house had to be demolished and the city inspectors are investigating the structural integrity of two neighboring buildings.

The city has been paying for hotel stays for the past two weeks, but that ends on Tuesday.

In addition to housing insecurity, many residents are faced with other problems.

Some said they were struggling to get their children to school and had little or no guidance from the property managers. Some are even considering suing the management company.

Dylan Bess, an Atlanta-based attorney for Morgan and Morgan, a Florida-based law firm, said at least five people have expressed a desire to keep the law firm.

He said he was disappointed with the lack of accommodation and the response from the property management team. The socio-economic status of the displaced should not affect their treatment, he said.

“The management company certainly has the resources to do a few things; to operate a property in a safe way and not allow such things, ”said Bess. “But if they happen to fully support the people who paid them rent.”

Odin Properties, the Philadelphia-based company that manages Highland Hills Apartments, did not respond to requests for comment.

In an email recently sent to residents, the management company said it was trying to restore utility lines in all buildings near the apartment explosion. The company said it is still evaluating the two buildings next to the site of the explosion, but wants to bring residents back to their homes.

“Our wish is to have external repairs carried out shortly,” so that the residents can move in again, the company wrote.

Even if she could return, Tilley said she wasn’t sure she would return.

“My oldest daughter is more scared than anyone,” she said. “Who says we go home and that won’t happen again? My daughter is afraid for her life and I am afraid for everyone’s life. “

City aid over

Residents scattered across four different hotels were told on Monday that the city’s emergency management office would stop paying for the stays after Tuesday.

Rocky Vaz, director of the Dallas Emergency Management Bureau, said the deadline was set based on when the apartments would get power back. He said the city would adjust its plans if necessary.

“At the moment we have extended it through [Oct. 19] but we are constantly monitoring the repairs and communicating with the owner of the complex, ”said Vaz.

The condition of buildings 5730 and 5706, which are right next to the site of the explosion, is still “up in the air,” Vaz said, adding that repairs to the two objects could take until the end of the month.

The city’s deadline for providing hotel rooms to residents will continue to apply to those evicted from the two homes, Vaz said.

Several residents also told The News that an added hurdle to their situation was the lack of transportation for their children to attend school.

Chanté Nakapaahu, who lives in building 5706, has been living with a friend since the explosion. Her friend lives about 30 minutes from the schools her children attend, and Nakapaahu said it was extra stressful to transport her.

“It’s an additional factor that I have to navigate along with the displacement every day,” said Nakapaahu.

Christina Hernton, 34, who lives in the same building as Nakapaahu, said Catholic charities provided small grants to residents to help them adapt to their temporary living situations, but added that most of the money was spent on gasoline to bring their children back and from school.

“There has to be some kind of shelter with the kids and the schools,” said Hernton.

Dallas ISD spokeswoman Robyn Harris said the district is trying to find out which families in the district are in need of services.

She encouraged families whose children need help with transportation or other educational needs to contact the district through the homeless education program.

Harris said the program, which helps families with short and long-term homelessness, is ready to help families affected by the home explosion.

“We made ourselves available to families who had a need,” Harris said.

Forge ahead

Councilor Tennell Atkins, whose District 8 includes the apartment complex, said his office and other community organizations had been working to help residents.

“I am concerned about the residents who have been displaced,” he said. “We are doing everything in our power to ensure that they are safe now and that when they return they will have a safe place to go.”

Since the day of the explosion, the local non-profit organization Not My Son has provided residents with groceries, toiletries and other resources – such as computer stations to help them find new homes.

Tramonica Brown, the organization’s founder and executive director, said the group helped at least 15 families find new homes.

She stressed that although the explosion occurred more than two weeks ago, its effects will continue.

“We are working with other nonprofits to help residents pay their new home search fees so we can give them as much fresh start as possible,” said Brown.

For Rahim Budhwani, 30, and his fiancée Sarah Shuker, 36, life at this moment is full of strangers.

They lived on the second floor of the apartment building that exploded. Since they cannot return home, they try to find a new place to stay.

She said the couple’s rental application was recently rejected after a credit check from a nearby apartment complex.

Rahim Budhwani (center) will offer snacks to Aubrey Hernton (2) in his and his fiancé Sarah Shuker (left) in the hotel room at the Hilton Anatole on October 11, 2021. Aubrey’s mother Christina Hernton (right) was a neighbor who was also left without a home after the explosion. They were not close before, but have considered each other “family” since the event. (Liesbeth Powers / Special Contributor)(Liesbeth Powers / special contributor)

“We’re just looking for anything that can work,” she said, “and it’s a little difficult right now.”

Not only did Shuker lose her home and furniture, but she also missed cherished personal items, including a glazed porcelain doll collection that she has been keeping since she was 5. One of them is the first doll she ever had. She also lost her mother’s handmade wedding dress.

Work teams were at the site of the explosion on Friday afternoon, loading trucks with the rubble of the demolished building.

A few hundred yards away, in front of Tilley’s apartment, the remains of her GMC Yukon sat alone in the eerily empty parking lot. There was a faint smell of burnt rubber and plastic in the remains of their SUV.

A ring of glass, blackened by the flame, surrounded the burned vehicle. Inside were tattered clothes, charred car seats, and tattered electronics.

Insurance will help pay for the vehicle damage, Tilley said, but the explosion, vehicle fire, and recent break-ins have left her calm.

“It scares my kids – that worries me,” said Tilley.

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How to help

Donations can be made to the Dallas Emergency Assistance Fund. If nonprofit groups want to help local residents, they can email the OEM at oemdepartment@dallascityhall.com with contact information.

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