San Antonio council reviews emergency-response coordination after Preston Hollow gas explosions; NTSB limits public detail

San Antonio’s City Council met in a special session on June 22 to review emergency-response coordination and CPS Energy’s handling of the April 21 Preston Hollow gas explosions, but federal investigatory limits constrained what officials could say.

"The National Transportation Safety Board leads an independent investigation," Liz Provencio, 1st assistant city attorney, told the council, summarizing the NTSB’s May 21 preliminary report. Provencio said the factual phase collected physical evidence and operational data; the report noted two natural-gas explosions at about 6:04 p.m. and 8:25 p.m. on April 21 at 15066 and 15058 Preston Hollow Drive, multiple injuries, a leak found at 15062 Preston Hollow, and pipe sections removed and sent to the NTSB for further analysis. She said the final report — including probable cause and safety recommendations — could take 12 to 24 months.

CPS Energy’s interim president and CEO, Frank Almeraz, said the utility would cooperate fully with the NTSB and work with the council within those investigatory limits. "We will be as transparent as we possibly can be," Almeraz said, adding that CPS is constrained by active litigation and the federal probe.

CPS officials described on-the-ground support in the weeks after the explosions. Deanna Hardwick, chief customer strategy officer for CPS Energy, said the utility staged up to 12 days of on-site engagement, helped arrange temporary lodging (hotels and short-term rentals), provided gift cards and phone help, coordinated mental-health support, and maintained a direct outreach list of roughly 175 contact points to update affected residents. Shanna Ramirez of CPS outlined system statistics — "over 400,000 customers," "over 10,000" annual emergency responses and an average 30-minute response time — and described tools such as a vehicle-mounted detector called "Gaston" and an inventory of several hundred household gas detectors that CPS is distributing while supplies last.

Residents told council they want more accountability and clearer information. Tony Flores, speaking for the Preston Hollow Homeowners Association, described the explosions as "catastrophic and extraordinary," urged expert guidance on gas-line safety and easement locations, and asked the city and CPS to explain how odor reports are tracked and audited so residents can have confidence that every complaint is investigated. Kevin Johnson said neighbors remain displaced and frustrated that prior reports of gas smells did not appear to prompt effective action. "If this final CPS report identifies tree roots as being the culprit, what is the next step?" he asked.

Council members pressed city and CPS staff on operational questions and communications. Councilman Mark White asked whether the city’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) should have been activated for a neighborhood-centric incident and who coordinated multiple agencies in the days after the explosions. The fire chief explained that the EOC was not activated for this incident and that incidents are commonly managed under the Incident Command System; deputy city manager Maria Viego said the decision depends on whether an event requires multi-department coordination or exceeds routine field capabilities.

Elected officials asked staff to improve post-incident communications and tools for residents. CPS said it can provide individual homeowners with maps showing their own gas-line locations on request but will not produce a map of the entire system for security reasons. Councilmembers also asked staff to prepare a simple one-page guide describing what the fire department, police, and CPS can do in response to a gas odor call, to expand community distribution of gas detectors while stocks last, and to clarify point-of-contact procedures that families should use to locate injured relatives after incidents.

Mayor Jones and council members thanked first responders and BAMC (Brooke Army Medical Center) for treating injured residents. Several council members asked the city’s public-safety committee to oversee work on communications, training and neighborhood-centric EOC planning. City staff agreed to schedule EOC training and to plan a neighborhood-centric exercise for the mayor and council.

The council then moved into executive session, citing Texas Government Code chapter 551 provisions for executive consultation; no formal action was taken in executive session. The meeting adjourned at 12:18 p.m.

What happens next: city staff and CPS are to follow up with distribution options for household detectors, provide property-specific gas-line information on request, produce a one-page roles-and-responses guide for residents, schedule EOC training and a neighborhood-focused exercise, and the NTSB will continue its investigation with a final report and recommendations expected in 12–24 months.