Fireball Kills 4, Destroys 38 Homes In San Bruno
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At least four people have died, 38 homes have been destroyed and 52 injured in a massive fireball that erupted when a natural gas line broke in the San Bruno foothills and raced through a residential neighborhood, authorities said Friday.
San Mateo Senior Deputy Coroner Michelle Rippy said Friday that officials at the scene confirmed that four people have died in the fire. Authorities have began a grim house-by-house search of wreckage for more victims using 12 search dogs.
Fire Chief Dennis Haag said that 75 percent of the wreckage had been searched by noon with the other 25 percent still smoldering and too hot to examine.
"It was pretty devastating," Haag said. "It looks like a moonscape in some areas."
Meanwhile, officials with the San Bruno Park School District said that all schools would be closed on Friday. At ground zero of the explosion a massive crater bore witness to the power of the initial blast.
California Lieutenant Governor Abel Maldonado, acting governor while Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was in Asia on a trade mission, has declared a state of emergency for San Mateo County.
"It was like a bomb went off," Maldonado told CNN from the scene early Friday.
He said the cause of the conflagration was still unclear.
"We don't know what happened. I don't know what happened. Tomorrow morning we'll find out," he said.
Maldonado said the fire had been 75 percent contained with 15 acres burned. Fire officials said a walk though of the devastated area at daylight revealed that 38 homes had been destroyed and seven more had suffered 'significant' damage. Those figures were much lower than the 53 destroyed and 120 damaged figures released overnight.
He said that 52 people have been injured in the blaze including four firefighters.
Meanwhile, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. President Chris Johns said Friday morning that a 30-inch gas pipe had ruptured about three feet underground triggering the fireball.
He said PG&E has no record of its crews working in that area at the time and the cause of the break was still under investigation.
Johns said that the company would "fully cooperate" with the investigation and explore unconfirmed witness reports of the smell of gas in the area before the explosions.
"It's a tragic event, and we really want to make sure that we can make this area safe right now," Johns said.
Johns vowed that if the investigation finds that PG&E is at fault, "We will do the right thing for those involved."
Christina Veraflor, 41, of Napa, grew up in the neighborhood and said Friday morning that her 67-year-old mother's house was destroyed.
Veraflor said she smelled gas at the house during a visit six weeks ago but did not report the smell to the utility. Others have also told KTVU they had smelled gas in the neighborhood air over the last several weeks.
"You'd get a whiff of it, and it would dissipate," she said.
Law enforcement officers were also patrolling the fire zone to protect homes from looters. Authorities said a man was spotted overnight taking items from a home and when officers attempted stop him, he assaulted the officers. A pursuit ensued and the man was taken into custody.
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Víctor Lei
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