A preliminary NTSB report found that the fire ignited 10 seconds after crews struck the gas line.
Alarid's lawsuit describes some of those moments. It says he noticed that a 4-inch gas distribution line was exposed while a crew member was digging with an excavator.
"He's thinking to himself, 'I hope he's not going to hit this. Next thing he knows, he gets blown down,' " Jabagchourian said.
With cement and dirt flying in his face, Alarid observed natural gas flowing out the pipe and yelled for people nearby to run away, according to the suit. As he began to run from the site, a large fire erupted.
Jabagchourian also represents two city residents who filed a separate lawsuit in February over the explosion. Both lawsuits say Kilford Engineering workers should have used hand tools, like a shovel, instead of an excavator.
"The conduct was so despicable, that it constitutes conduct warranting exemplary damages against Kilford," the most recent suit states.
A spokesman for Kilford said the company declined to comment on the suit.
John Higgins, president of MasTec's Utility Services Group, pushed back against the lawsuit.
"The investigation conducted by federal and local authorities as well as MasTec, revealed no reports of serious injuries arising from this incident," Higgins said in a statement. "We have fully supported the work of the authorities as they carried out the investigation and most importantly, MasTec deployed a fully staffed response team to address the needs of those in the immediate vicinity of the incident who were directly affected."
A representative for Advanced Fiber Networks did not respond to a request for comment.