CA - San Bruno explosion, several blocks on fire

[lymom3]

That is near where I work and 4 blocks from where one of my coworkers lives. She hadn't been able to go home last night when I spoke with her.

 

[trigger]

News conference on now

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/livenow?id=7660121

 

[SuziQ]

Lt gov up. Gov is in Asia.....

 

[SuziQ]

I missed most of the details. Four dead though. I think 75 injured?

 

[SuziQ]

12 canines on sight

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

Am watching on Fox....is it just me or was that Bietenhause (sp) guy just a little too upbeat? Considering the circumstances it just seemed odd to me. This is just awful to see.

 

[trigger]

Lt Governor of CA Abel Maldonado saying declaring State of Emergency

As you know Gov Schwartenager is away.

Thanking everyone-First responders...Terrific tragedy. Without warning everyone lives here change forever. Don't know what caused it but will find out.

50 acres burned. 75 %contained. 52 patients. 4 firefighters transported to hospital. 4 people have been killed. One shelter opened, 25 people there at this time.

 

[AbbieNormal]

This is absolutely horrible. I bet the fire fed back through the lines and into each house which had pilot lights! That's what it kinda looks like to me. I hate hate hate hate hate gas. Had a house once that the stove and the furnace were gas and I HATED IT!!! Scared me to death. But it seems in this case it wouldn't have mattered if you had it in your house or not - if the neighbor did.

I hope the people got out.

I hate gas too. I don't even know how to start our propane grill and don't want to. I had gas yrs ago and never used it, used microwave for all my cooking. Had a date and wanted to cook a decent meal and asked him to light the pilot and the stove blew up and burned his eyebrows and mustache and some of his hair off and he had some facial burns. Not a good date. It was terrible, had to call 911....that was some 32 or so years ago I still remember the fireball coming out of the stove, my date was trapped because there was a wall behind the stove door. Terrible. (He was ok later, in hosp for a week) Later that night my LR floor was littered with the packages from the EMT's ripping open bandages and stuff. Very surreal. First date I had after I left my first husband. Scary stuff

abbie.

 

[justice77]

I hate gas too. I don't even know how to start our propane grill and don't want to. I had gas yrs ago and never used it, used microwave for all my cooking. Had a date and wanted to cook a decent meal and asked him to light the pilot and the stove blew up and burned his eyebrows and mustache and some of his hair off and he had some facial burns. Not a good date. It was terrible, had to call 911....that was some 32 or so years ago I still remember the fireball coming out of the stove, my date was trapped because there was a wall behind the stove door. Terrible. (He was ok later, in hosp for a week) Later that night my LR floor was littered with the packages from the EMT's ripping open bandages and stuff. Very surreal. First date I had after I left my first husband. Scary stuff

abbie.

WOW thats crazy!! Sorry you had to experience something like that . It sounds like a tv show, I"m glad he and you were ok

 

[Belinda]

I absolutely refuse to live anywhere that has gas appliances and such. There are just too many accidents, between the explosions and the carbon monoxide. I would be a wreck all the time.

 

[PMLsmom]

Live aerial feed...

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/livenow?id=7660237

 

[anneinchicago]

Again, double check-

Donations of diapers, shoes, blankets, kid's clothes neeed. Drop off at 251 City Parkway, San Bruno or 35 w. manor drive, pacifica.

Missing pets/pet info-

The Petco as posted earlier. Also Peninisula Humane Society = 650-340=7022

If anyone knows of a freecycle or freecycle like group in the area, you might want to pass on the donations request.

 

[anneinchicago]

Friends and family of the following are searching for them:

Jacklyn & Janessa Greig. Contact @hector on twitter if whereabouts known

Liz Torres. Lived on Claremont. Contact @brenbt on twitter if whereabouts known.

Greg, Will, Lavonne Bullis. Contact @superzack on twitter if whereabouts known.

 

[anneinchicago]

http://www.kmel.com/common/san-bruno-fire.html
More info.

 

[anneinchicago]

Link to keep abreast of blood donation needs and updates:

http://www.facebook.com/paloaltomedicalfoundation

 

[noZme]

Returning here & seeing post #153 above....

I began a thread in the Jury Room for this idea, not my own but something our family has implemented. Here is the basic plan for benefit of unregistered readers.

The American Red Cross & other such agencies, maintain reunification lists but, each family needs it's own plan. Here is how it works:

If possible, choose someone familiar with your extended family, preferably someone who lives in a different community. In our case, we selected a cousin who lives about 50 miles away. Each person, children as well as adults, knows to call the "it" person if they are seperated from the family in an emergency. "It" becomes a clearinghouse for information on the location & well-being of everyone who calls.

It really is that simple. We cannot be certain we'll have our own cellphones, as demonstrated last night. Those people had no time for anything except trying to escape the fireball. In disaster situations, groups can be scattered into different hotels or shelters, even different cities. This is the fastest way to re-connect.

 

[Skittles]

They're setting up for another presser:

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/livenow?id=7660397


Some of these guys should realize they're live over the internet. One was joking about doing song and dance numbers while they wait for the mayor to arrive.

 

[LinasK]

John Wildermuth, Will Kane Marisa Lagos,Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writers
San Francisco Chronicle September 10, 2010 11:42 AM Copyright San Francisco Chronicle. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Friday, September 10, 2010
(09-10) 11:42 PDT SAN BRUNO -- The death toll from the natural gas line explosion that leveled a San Bruno neighborhood grew overnight to four as federal investigators joined the probe into what caused the disaster.
​

<snip>

The fire that raced through the neighborhood of single-family homes erupted at 6:24 p.m. Thursday when a 30-inch Pacific Gas and Electric Co. natural gas pipeline ruptured, creating a 30-foot-wide crater, officials and the utility said.
<snip>

More than 12 hours after the explosion, the fire was still only 75 percent contained. Officials said 38 homes had been destroyed, down from an estimate Thursday night of 53, and seven more houses had sustained significant damage. Several other homes sustained less serious damage.
The San Mateo County coroner's office said four people had been killed. Their identities haven't been confirmed pending comparisons to dental records, authorities said. Coroner's investigators planned to search home-by-home today with emergency responders in search of more victims.
At least 52 people suffered burns, smoke inhalation and other injuries, and three of them were in critical condition with third-degree burns, authorities said.
<snip>

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.
Some 200 firefighters from agencies around the area responded to the blaze, joined by air tankers that dropped retardant on the fire. Millbrae Fire Chief Dennis Haag, the incident commander, said today, "As devastating as this was, it could have been so much worse."
Haag said four firefighters suffered minor injuries and have been treated and released from hospitals.
The fire chief said the first engine on scene got within about a 100 yards of the fire and "then had to stop because their windshield cracked (from the heat). As they pulled back, they saw paint bubbling on the cars in the street."
Haag said the devastation was like nothing he'd seen in his 31 years as a firefighter.
The pipe that ruptured was laid down 60 years ago, Maldonado said. Local officials looking into why it burst will be joined by a metallurgist with the National Transportation Safety Board, Ravi Chhatre, who has looked into previous pipeline explosions. Although the safety board is known primarily for investigating plane crashes, it also dispatches teams after major pipeline incidents.
Some residents told reporters they had smelled gas in the neighborhood in the days preceding the explosion and that PG&E trucks had been in the area. Johns said the utility had not confirmed that.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/10/BAVQ1FBPMD.DTL&tsp=1#ixzz0z9ktE4I4​

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[anneinchicago]

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=san...-20100910&ss=1&ct=6&mt=all&w=all&adv=1#page=2

Sun Bruno Fire Flickr Feed

 

[Nova]

Returning here & seeing post #153 above....

I began a thread in the Jury Room for this idea, not my own but something our family has implemented. Here is the basic plan for benefit of unregistered readers.

The American Red Cross & other such agencies, maintain reunification lists but, each family needs it's own plan. Here is how it works:

If possible, choose someone familiar with your extended family, preferably someone who lives in a different community. In our case, we selected a cousin who lives about 50 miles away. Each person, children as well as adults, knows to call the "it" person if they are seperated from the family in an emergency. "It" becomes a clearinghouse for information on the location & well-being of everyone who calls.

It really is that simple. We cannot be certain we'll have our own cellphones, as demonstrated last night. Those people had no time for anything except trying to escape the fireball. In disaster situations, groups can be scattered into different hotels or shelters, even different cities. This is the fastest way to re-connect.

Excellent advice. Let me just add that here in earthquake country, the "it" person should be out of state. After a quake, it's often possible to call long distance but not within the county where the quake occurred.