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Incident

Four dead, 38 homes destroyed in California gas explosion, fire

11 September 2010 04:58 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. The death toll from a massive gas-fueled blaze in California has climbed to four, APA reports quoting CNN.
The fire engulfed dozens of homes and sent fireballs shooting into the air in a neighborhood near the San Francisco airport.
Gloria Serrano said late Thursday that she hadn’t been able to reach her elderly parents, who live in the area.
"I try to call, and it’s like a busy signal, and the answering machine doesn’t go on," she said.
At least four deaths have been confirmed, California Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado said. He said 38 homes were destroyed and seven severely damaged.
The fire was 75 percent contained, he said Friday morning.
Local hospitals reported Thursday night that at least 28 people were being treated for injuries from the fire, some with critical burn injuries. Four firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation, officials said Friday.
Pacific Gas and Electric spokesman Blair Jones said Friday that its gas transmission line ruptured, leading to the blaze. The cause of the rupture was still under investigation.
"Our focus right now is making the area safe," Jones said.
The city is seeking a federal declaration of a state of emergency, said U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier, who represents the area.
"It looks like a bomb went off, " Maldonado said. "I saw debris everywhere. It was a huge explosion. I am shocked. This is a horrible tragedy that hit San Bruno."
Firefighters had not yet been able to access the high-pressure gas line.
City officials said they were trying to account for residents in the area. Haag said about 100 had evacuated to shelters.
San Bruno Mayor James Ruane said he assured survivors of the blaze that the city would help them. He said he could tell how much the incident affected them.
"It was the look on their faces. They were still in shock," Ruane said. "They were walking around but almost in a daze. It must have been horrific when it happened."
Judy Serresseque, who evacuated with her husband after the blast, said it felt like an earthquake.
"The whole house shook, and I got up...and my living room filled with an orange glow. And when I went to my front door, I looked out and everything was just flames," said Judy Serresseque, who evacuated with her husband after the blast.
"The heat was intense, and you could hear it, you could hear the hiss," she said.
Bob Hensel said he had to open his garage door manually to escape the flames. The bumper of his wife’s car melted as he drove away.
He left without his two cats, who hid as the "big rumbling sound" escalated.
"I looked as long as I could," he said.
The explosion sent concrete flying, and the heat from the flames melted tail lights on cars blocks away from the blaze.
"I was standing next to a police officer who’d been in Baghdad and he said he had never seen anything quite so bad as this," John Hampton, a freelance photographer who witnessed the fire, told CNN affiliate KGO. "It looks as if this area was firebombed."
San Bruno resident Tim Gutierrez, who lives in a neighborhood near where the blast occurred, told CNN affiliate KRON that people living in the area have smelled natural gas for the past three weeks.
"Every day after work, I would smell the heavy smell coming from the gutter and sewer," he said.
When asked about that account Thursday night, Haag told reporters it was "the first time the fire department’s ever had any notice of it."
Maldonado declared a state of emergency in San Mateo County and said in a statement that state authorities were investigating what caused the explosion, which "endangered too many lives."
Gas pipes near homes, windy weather and water supply problems have complicated efforts to combat the flames.
"The radiant heat from the actual gas and the fireball was making it so that they couldn’t even attack the homes that were on fire," said news photographer Bryan Carmody, who arrived at the scene shortly after the blaze began.
Water pressure in the area was low because the fire compromised a water main, California State Sen. Leland Yee told CNN affiliate KRON, so firefighters had to truck in water.
"It’s going to be a long, long fight on this one. Mainly it’s a tough terrain up there," he said.
Sergio Campos, 21, said he was on his way to class at Skyline College when he saw the fire and pulled over. Even from a distance, the blaze "sounded like a big, ongoing roar," he said.
"A lot of us were confused because we didn’t know if it was a natural explosion or an airplane crash," he told CNN’s iReport.
A "major gas line explosion" occurred at 6:15 p.m. (9:15 p.m. ET) and "immediately erupted into fire," San Bruno city spokeswoman Dena Gunning said.
Authorities are worried about winds that could spread the fire and embers that are falling on adjacent houses, Huston said. Helicopters were dropping retardant on homes to try to stop the fire’s spread.
Two evacuation centers have been set up and at least 100 people are being cared for at one of the locations, Melanie Finke of the San Francisco Red Cross said.
Church of Highlands Staff Pastor Leigh Bishop told CNN he witnessed a "devastating explosion" that caused the fast-moving fire.
Bishop said two people from his church had lost their homes and at least one person had burn injuries.
California’s state fire department was sending 25 fire engines to the area to help battle the blaze at the request of the local fire department, spokesman Daniel Berlant said.
The fire is in a populated area about two miles west of San Francisco International Airport, Huston said.
All flights and operations there were normal Friday morning, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
At least 5,000 customers were without electricity, KGO reported.