JACKSON, Miss.—Nearly a year after the series of home explosions in South Jackson that took the life of a Jackson woman and led the National Transportation Safety Board to open an investigation, Atmos Energy continues to make upgrades to natural-gas pipes running underground across the city, the company’s Vice President of Public Affairs Bobby Morgan said Tuesday.
Clara Barbour, 82, was killed, and her husband Johnny Barbour was injured earlier this year when their home on Bristol Boulevard exploded in the early morning hours of Jan. 24.
While the NTSB—an independent federal investigative agency—released a preliminary report a month after the initial explosion, investigators typically take 12 to 24 months to conduct a full investigation.
So far, investigators have not assigned responsibility for the explosion to any company or individual.
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As the agency continues to examine evidence, no one has yet said definitively whether a gas leak led to the explosion at Barbour’s home or a subsequent home explosion less than a mile away on Shalimar Drive.
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82-year-old Clara Barbour (left) was killed and her husband Johnny Barbour was injured when their home on Bristol Boulevard in Jackson, Miss., exploded suddenly on the morning of Jan. 24, 2024. The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating what caused the explosion. Photo courtesy Clara and Johnny Barbour ” data-medium-file=”https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/clara-and-johnny-barbour_courtesy.jpg?fit=300%2C169&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/clara-and-johnny-barbour_courtesy.jpg?fit=534%2C300&ssl=1″ src=”https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/clara-and-johnny-barbour_courtesy.jpg?resize=534%2C300&ssl=1″ alt=”A photo of two people standing in front of a bookshelf” class=”wp-image-42533″ srcset=”https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/clara-and-johnny-barbour_courtesy.jpg?w=534&ssl=1 534w, https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/clara-and-johnny-barbour_courtesy.jpg?resize=300%2C169&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/clara-and-johnny-barbour_courtesy.jpg?resize=24%2C13&ssl=1 24w, https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/clara-and-johnny-barbour_courtesy.jpg?resize=36%2C20&ssl=1 36w, https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/clara-and-johnny-barbour_courtesy.jpg?resize=48%2C27&ssl=1 48w, https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/clara-and-johnny-barbour_courtesy.jpg?w=370&ssl=1 370w, https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/clara-and-johnny-barbour_courtesy.jpg?w=400&ssl=1 400w” sizes=”(max-width: 534px) 100vw, 534px”>Clara Barbour, left, died after the home she shared with her husband Johnny exploded into flames on Jan. 24, 2024. The incident sparked fear in Jackson residents who demanded answers from state and federal agencies as well as Atmos Energy about the safety of the gas pipelines in their neighborhoods. Photo courtesy Clara and Johnny Barbour
However, in the weeks and months following Barbour’s death, Jackson residents asked for transparency from the utility
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