SAN ANTONIO – A Bexar County jury found CPS Energy negligent on Monday for a 2021 explosion at an East Side home that injured two people, ordering the municipality to pay $109 million in damages.
Virginia Rymers and her son Robert sued the city-owned municipality after an explosion at their home on Walters Street on May 1, 2021.
An attorney assigned to the case — Michael Lyons of the Lyons & Simmons law firm — said Robert Rymers suffered extensive burns from the explosion. Virginia Rymers also sustained burn injuries and an air embolism, the law firm said in a press release.
Lyons said that Robert Rymers was left permanently disabled after the explosion, and Virginia Rymers continues to fight physical and mental injuries.
The family lost everything in the explosion and fire, including two dogs who were killed in the blast, the release says.
“CPS Energy refused to take responsibility despite the fact that both the San Antonio Police Department’s arson team and the San Antonio Fire Department determined the explosion was caused by natural gas,” Lyons said.
The former home of Virginia and Robert Rymers had its gas system installed in 1960, according to Lyons. After a series of failures led to the meter being replaced in 2008 and 2015, the property owner decided to convert the home to all-electric.
In a statement to KSAT, CPS Energy said, “We continue to dispute liability and are evaluating our next steps.”
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