A pure fuel line leak triggered a dramatic explosion that destroyed a Bay Area dwelling on Thursday, injuring six folks and damaging a number of different properties.
At least one individual was inside the house earlier than it was leveled within the blast. The particular person managed to flee with out damage, however six others have been harm, together with three who suffered critical accidents, Alameda County Fire Department spokesperson Cheryl Hurd mentioned.
“It was a chaotic scene,” Hurd mentioned. “There was hearth and particles and smoke in all places, energy traces down, folks self-evacuated from the house. … Someone was on the sidewalk with extreme burns.”
The leak began after a third-party building crew working Thursday morning within the 800 block of East Lewelling Boulevard in Hayward struck a Pacific Gas and Electric underground pure fuel line, in response to a press release from the utility.
Fire crews have been first dispatched to the scene at 7:46 a.m. after PG&E reported a suspected pure fuel leak, Hurd mentioned. PG&E officers have been already on scene when hearth engines arrived, and reportedly instructed firefighters their help was not wanted, Hurd mentioned.
Utility staff tried to isolate the broken line, however fuel was leaking from a number of areas. Workers shut off the move of fuel at about 9:25 a.m. About ten minutes later an explosion occurred, PG&E mentioned in a press release.
Fire crews have been referred to as again to the identical tackle, the place no less than 75 firefighters encountered heavy flames and a thick column of smoke. Surrounding houses sustained harm from the blast and falling particles. Three buildings have been destroyed on two separate properties and a number of other others have been broken, in response to hearth officers.
Six folks have been taken to Eden Medical Center, together with three with extreme accidents requiring speedy transport. Officials declined to touch upon the character of their accidents.
Video captured from a Ring doorbell affixed to a neighboring home confirmed an excavator digging close to the house moments earlier than the explosion. The blast rattled close by houses, shattered home windows and despatched building crews operating.
Initially, authorities suspected that two folks have been lacking after the blast. That was decided to not be the case, Hurd mentioned.
“They introduced in two cadaver canine seeking to see if anybody was nonetheless trapped below the rubble, and the canine cleared every thing,” Hurd mentioned.
Brittany Maldonado had simply returned from dropping off her son at college Thursday morning when she seen a PG&E worker testing her fuel meter. He knowledgeable her that there was a difficulty they usually needed to flip off the fuel to her dwelling.
She didn’t suppose twice about it.
“About 45 minutes later, every thing shakes,” she instructed reporters on the scene. “It was a giant increase…first we predict somebody bumped into our home—a truck or one thing—after which we glance exterior and it’s like a warfare zone.”
The home throughout the road was leveled, Maldonado mentioned. When she watched the footage from her Ring digicam she mentioned it appeared as if a bomb inside the house had gone off.
“I’m very glad that nobody misplaced their lives,” she mentioned.
Officials with the Sheriff’s Office, PG&E and the National Transportation Safety Board are persevering with to research the circumstances that led to the explosion.
In 2010, a PG&E pipeline ruptured in a San Bruno neighborhood, destroying 38 houses and killing eight folks. California regulators later accepted a $1.6-billion positive in opposition to the utility for violating state and federal pipeline security requirements.
Staff author Hannah Fry contributed to this report
