Gas Explosion in San Bruno, CA. OMG.

[samclem]

It looks like mini-pics of Hiroshima. How are there only 4 people dead so far?

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_160430...e=most_emailed

There are 48 pics in my link. View them all. Tell me why more people aren't dead.

PG&E might have some 'splainin' to do.

You just have to feel so bad for the residents. I'd be in a state of shock for a week if this happened to me.

[DrDeth]

Originally Posted by samclem

It looks like mini-pics of Hiroshima. How are there only 4 people dead so far?

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_160430...e=most_emailed

There are 48 pics in my link. View them all. Tell me why more people aren't dead.

PG&E might have some 'splainin' to do.

.

PG&E is so hated right now, this can't hurt them too much.

They have cadaver and search dogs out, some people are missing. The number could go up.

On another sad note, many pets died also.

[dangermom]

I just heard about it too and was reading the story. How horrible. I'm assuming they mean 4 confirmed dead, and the number will go up. I couldn't find out at what time the explosion occurred, only that it was last night--does anyone know? If it was 3 am, it will be more people than at 7 pm, you know?

[Darryl Lict]

Holy fuck. My sister lives in San Bruno! Any idea what the address is?

[SpoilerVirgin]

Only 4 people were killed, and according to the San Francisco Chronicle there is no one still missing, so it's unlikely that any additional bodies will be found.

Darryl Lict- I hope your sister was not directly impacted.

The explosion happened at Claremont and Glenview drives, officials and residents said. The city manager said the most devastated streets were the 1600 and 1700 blocks of Claremont Drive, the 900 block of Glenview Drive, the 1700 block of Earl Avenue, the 1100 block of Fairmont Drive and the 2700 block of Concord Way.

I looked for a thread this morning and was surprised not to find one. This has certainly dominated the news in the Bay Area.

[rowrrbazzle]

The fire started in the vicinity of Earl Ave. and Glenview Dr., between Sneath and San Bruno Ave. just south of Skyline Dr.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UT...7&source=embed

A shitload of raw video currently here: http://cbs5.com/

I used to live a couple of miles SW of there, on the other side of 380.

[moejoe]

15 acres around Crestmoor Canyon, this is less than 30 minutes from where I live.

It happened around 5:30pm yesterday, so maybe many people weren't home from work yet. I've heard that as many as 50 homes are just gone, almost 40 people hospitalized with injuries and some very critical condition.

If you're the praying type now is the time.

[johnpost]

news i heard was 4 death and 2 still unaccounted for.

national tv news had people stating they reported gas smell during past week to PG&E.

PG&E person said they were checking phone logs to see if there were reports.

[Boyo Jim]

I doesn't look like that big a catastrophe to me. From the OP I thought I would be looking at, like, a whole oil refinery had blown up and devastated a whole town.

[fuzzypickles]

Originally Posted by Boyo Jim

I doesn't look like that big a catastrophe to me. From the OP I thought I would be looking at, like, a whole oil refinery had blown up and devastated a whole town.

So if your entire neighborhood burned down, with several people killed, it wouldn't be that big of a deal?

[Gatopescado]

Going on record as saying PG&E stock will be worthless for the foreseeable future. The BP of California.

[Boyo Jim]

That was just an itty bitty crater you could fill with a few semi- trailers.

[pravnik]

Did you look at all the photos? There were over three dozen homes completely obliterated.

[Sandra Battye]

With the specter of earthquakes in California, agencies are used to working without regard to city boundaries. Doc Gurley has a terrific blog describing the horror facing emergency workers. Link

Originally Posted by Doc Gurley

So I just want to ask - as our hearts and thoughts go out to all the families who've suffered, can't we please, also, for the next 24 hours, call it a N.E.W. day? A National Emergency Workers' Day? Even if they weren't personally in San Bruno, or in New York for 9-11, how about if we drop a batch of cookies by a station house? How about if we buy a $5 gift card and hand it to a paramedic on break? How about if we take a to-go box of coffee by the Kaiser ER? Because for me, personally, when tragedies like this one strike, I'd rather show a little love and spend my time and energy honoring the best of us, the ones who've stepped up and gone beyond what anyone could reasonably expect. Those moments when the system works and quiet heroes emerge. If you feel this way too, share it on Facebook, tweet it to friends, spread it around.

Thank you, all emergency workers. You do an unimaginable job.

[Boyo Jim]

Originally Posted by pravnik

Did you look at all the photos? There were over three dozen homes completely obliterated.

What homes? I don't see any homes.

[Lord Mondegreen]

Originally Posted by Boyo Jim

What homes? I don't see any homes.

Photos 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, etc. You really don't see that these used to be homes?

[pravnik]

Originally Posted by Boyo Jim

What homes? I don't see any homes.

Well, therein lies the problem. Seriously, though, look at photos 10, 26, 33, 36, 38, 43, etc. It may not be a Bhopal sized disaster or anything, but that's a pretty darn big explosion. If I came home and saw not only my home flattened but almost every other one on the block as well, I'd be pretty freaked out.

[Boyo Jim]

I'm sorry. I had just got out of a big SDMB chatroom and was still in asshole mode. Carry on.

[pravnik]

No worries, I leave that switch on for days before I notice sometimes.

[Voyager]

They've reduced the number of destroyed homes from 53 to I think 35, as they were able to get back in. The initial flame was 7 stories high, and burned like that for over an hour before they got the gas shut off. Pretty horrendous. I live across the Bay, and I could swear that I could smell gas last night.

According to the 10 PM news, still 4 dead, but others are still in critical condition. No one reported missing, but they are trying to get a count.

I am happy to say that FEMA is going to pay for 75% of the fire fighting/rescue work - California cities don't have much money to spare these days. Though they should charge PG&E for it. I was pretty impressed with the speed and effectiveness of the response.

[1GothMama]

My husband's aunt and uncle live in that neighborhood. The fire was stopped literally across the street from their house. Aunt was home alone at the time of the explosion - 2-3 blocks away. Her front windows cracked and the interior blinds melted from the heat. She sustained mild burns from the radiant heat. She grabbed the dog, got in the car and self evacuated to a nearby mall where others were gathering. Last I heard they weren't allowed in yet. They know the house is standing (we've seen it on the news!) but have no idea what damage it's received or the status of their cat, whom she couldn't find in the evac.

Was a scary night till we heard from them. We're about 15 miles from the site and yesterday when the wind was right I could smell the smoke.

The more information that gets out the more it sounds like PG&E will have a lot to answer for.

[Broomstick]

CNN just reported two more bodies have been found, bringing the official death toll to 6.

Also, some of the injured were critically injured - there may be more deaths over the next few days and weeks.

Time of day is critical in these situations, along with wind direction and a hefty dose of luck for some.

[samclem]

Originally Posted by Broomstick

CNN just reported two more bodies have been found, bringing the official death toll to 6.

Also, some of the injured were critically injured - there may be more deaths over the next few days and weeks.

Time of day is critical in these situations, along with wind direction and a hefty dose of luck for some.

Sounds like there could have been dozens dead if it had occured later in the evening or during the night.

[Yorikke]

I work in Daly City, only a few miles from the explosion. I didn't hear it, but some guy came into my store, and said, "See that smoke? Plane Crash in San Bruno!"

It looked almost like a fricking atomic bomb cloud. HUGE plume of smoke. I figured it must have been a huge passenger jet or something.

As bad as it is, I'm glad it WASN'T a plane crash...

Joe

[elbows]

I heard that the people living in this neighbourhood kept reporting, to the company, that they could smell rotten eggs, for like a couple of weeks. They sent out a truck, at some point, to check it out. They told one guy, who asked what was up, when he saw the truck, to go back into his house and close his doors and stay there. That was days before the explosion. He did as he was told, and after a few hours, came out to see what was going on, only to discover, the truck gone. No one bothered to tell him anything, nor did they bother to evacuate any of the homes.

Is it the same PG&E from the Erin Brockovitch story?

[suranyi]

Originally Posted by elbows

I heard that the people living in this neighbourhood kept reporting, to the company, that they could smell rotten eggs, for like a couple of weeks. They sent out a truck, at some point, to check it out. They told one guy, who asked what was up, when he saw the truck, to go back into his house and close his doors and stay there. That was days before the explosion. He did as he was told, and after a few hours, came out to see what was going on, only to discover, the truck gone. No one bothered to tell him anything, nor did they bother to evacuate any of the homes.

Is it the same PG&E from the Erin Brockovitch story?

Yep. Also the same PG&E that was the primary sponsor behind Proposition 16 earlier this year that would have cemented its monopoly. (It was defeated, thank goodness.) Also the same PG&E that has been installing so-called "Smart Meters" to replace old electric meters. The Smart Meters have been causing complaints all over the state for months (accuracy, causing interference with radio devices, etc.)

Not a very popular company right now.

[Dr. Woo]

Originally Posted by suranyi

Yep. Also the same PG&E that was the primary sponsor behind Proposition 16 earlier this year that would have cemented its monopoly. (It was defeated, thank goodness.) Also the same PG&E that has been installing so-called "Smart Meters" to replace old electric meters. The Smart Meters have been causing complaints all over the state for months (accuracy, causing interference with radio devices, etc.)

Not a very popular company right now.

(Bolding mine.) Just wait until they request a rate increase to cover the costs of cleanup/remediation and all the lawsuits. Bleepers.

[The Hamster King]

Here's a video from a gas station surveillance camera over a quarter mile away. You can see the flying debris from the rupture a second or so before the fireball appears.

[Hedda Rosa]

Wow. And yep you can see debris flying before the explosion. I'm sure the NTSB has lots of work to do but that sure seems like the blow out was before ignition.

The woman running away with her baby is freaky. As is how it looks like the cars are driving right into the fireball.

[samclem]

Originally Posted by Hedda Rosa

Wow. And yep you can see debris flying before the explosion. I'm sure the NTSB has lots of work to do but that sure seems like the blow out was before ignition.

The woman running away with her baby is freaky. As is how it looks like the cars are driving right into the fireball.

And, why are people walking towards the fireball. It must have been farther away than we're assuming from the camera view. Of course, if you lived there, or had a loved one there, your instinct would be to TRY to go there.

[Broomstick]

Some of those people may have had a desire to help, and that's why they were going toward rather than away from the fire. In disasters like that sometimes bystanders with vehicles wind up transporting injured to local hospitals on their own intiative.

[The Hamster King]

Originally Posted by Hedda Rosa

As is how it looks like the cars are driving right into the fireball.

I checked out the location on Google maps. The gas station is about 300 yards from the center of the blast (not 1/4 mile as I said earlier). They're a lot farther away from the fire than it looks in the video. It's just shooting really high in the air.

[FoieGrasIsEvil]

Originally Posted by Sandra Battye

With the specter of earthquakes in California,

This piqued my curiosity...is there any provision anywhere in the US for how things like natural gas lines are laid in seismically sensitive areas? Some type of protection from ground shift and subsequent accidental rupture?

[blondebear]

Right when I started watching the video, a vehicle drove by outside with sirens blaring. How very odd.

[Dewey Finn]

Originally Posted by Broomstick

Some of those people may have had a desire to help, and that's why they were going toward rather than away from the fire. In disasters like that sometimes bystanders with vehicles wind up transporting injured to local hospitals on their own intiative.

For instance, here's an article from the San Francisco Chronicle describing how one family was in the process of escaping the fire in their car when a badly burned neighbor walked up to them. They drove him to the hospital. I'll spoiler-box the following because it's kind of unpleasant.

SPOILER:

Amanda [the fifteen-year-old daughter of the couple in the article] said she had to open the door for Ruigomez [the badly burned neighbor, whose girlfriend was among the fatalities].

"He had no fingers," she said softly.

[The Devil's Grandmother]

Originally Posted by suranyi

Yep. Also the same PG&E that was the primary sponsor behind Proposition 16 earlier this year that would have cemented its monopoly. (It was defeated, thank goodness.) Also the same PG&E that has been installing so-called "Smart Meters" to replace old electric meters. The Smart Meters have been causing complaints all over the state for months (accuracy, causing interference with radio devices, etc.)

Not a very popular company right now.

And not trying very hard to be liked either. Article from SFgate, San Bruno blast: PG&E backs bid to bill public

Originally Posted by from linked article

The new proposal would require utility customers to bear the uninsured costs of catastrophic fires. It is titled a "wildfire expense balancing account," but the application defines "wildfire" to include any uncontrolled fire, urban or rural, that is larger than an acre and destroys houses or other buildings.