When the as of yet unidentified individual went next door to see if their neighbors were home, there was no answer, so the resident called 911 and both the Eagle Pass Fire department and inspectors from Texas State Natural Gas Inc. rushed over to the home and were able to evacuate the family who were all asleep at the time.

According to Fire Marshall Rodolfo Cardona, the call came in around midnight and the occupants in the home were evacuated.  When EMT's arrived they were evaluated and monitored in order to rule out intoxication.

Fire fighters and TSNG officials then ventilated the home and found the problem.  The stove had been left on without a flame which TSNG Engineer Javier Libson says is a common occurrence with older type gas stoves and even newer electronic stoves that have a clicking mechanism when lighting.  He says that sometimes the spark fails to function.

Cardona said that natural gas, while it does not have an odor, has a chemical added to it in order for the gas to be detected by human smell.  He also added that it can be very deadly when it escapes gas lines or if a stove is left on without a flame as it depletes the oxygen level inside a home and anyone inside will begin to breathe it.

"If you are awake, you will start to feel light headed or might get a severe headache, but it is deadly, especially if you're asleep."

"While natural gas is odorless, the chemical mercaptan is added and that's the purpose for this odor.  All the gas that we get is already odorized by the transmission line operators," stated the engineer.

"Our inspectors reported to the residence at 12:04 Tuesday morning and determined that the knob to the stove had been left open," concluded Libson, "Citizens need to be very careful with these types of stoves."

Texas State Natural Gas has a 24-hour emergency number in case anyone ever needs their assistance which is 830-513-0779.