The Governor of Texas awarded the Star of Texas Award to three Dallas Fire Rescue responders who were injured in the September 2021 explosion at a Highland Hills apartment complex.
Captain Christ Gadomski, Driver Engineer Ronald Hall and Officer Pauline Perez received the award in Austin this week. They were injured in the explosion, which was caused by a gas leak.
Gadomski spent four weeks in the hospital after the accident.
The explosion injured eight people, including the firefighters, and a 28-year-old man was charged with multiple counts of deadly conduct, accused of firing a shot that caused the leak.
The three injured firefighters have filed a lawsuit seeking $100 million in damages against Atmos Energy, the apartment complex’s owners and its management company.
“The award is given out annually to honor peace officers, firefighters and emergency medical first responders either killed or sustained serious injuries in the line of duty,” according to a message from Dallas Fire Rescue.
