Neighbors of destroyed S.F. Sunset District house shaken by close call
SAN FRANCISCO -- Neighbors rocked by the house explosion in San Francisco's Sunset District continued with their cleanup on Sunday. The explosion Thursday morning destroyed one house and caused two adjacent homes to be red-tagged. About a dozen other homes on the block also suffered from damage.
That morning, Albert Ng was standing in front of his house talking to a next-door neighbor about 40 to 50 feet from the house across the street when it blew up.
"All of a sudden, we just heard the explosion -- boom! Then we saw the fire," Ng said.
A surveillance video showed the impact of the explosion pushing the 73-year-old Ng several feet from where he was standing. It took him a few seconds to regain his balance and then he called 9-1-1.
"Just see glass, wood and the garage door, looks like it was blown open," Ng said.
The explosion also knocked out many windows and doors of houses on the 1700 block of 22nd Avenue.
"Lucky, that's all I can say is lucky. Both of us, nothing wrong. We didn't get hit by any glass or wood or anything," Ng said.
Authorities said the explosion killed a disabled woman who lived in the house and severely injured her caretaker.
San Francisco police said they arrested 53-year-old Darron Price for manslaughter and manufacturing drugs in his home. They said he had turned the house into an illegal drug lab in a residential neighborhood. They also charged Price with two counts of child endangerment. The two kids who lived in the house were in school at the time.
"He's friendly, that's all. He just said a few words, 'how's everything? Good morning. How are you doing?' Ng said of his neighbor Price.
Ng said a family of four lived in the house that blew up. The husband, the disabled wife and two daughters.
Despite the close call, Ng said he was not angry with the Price. He wanted to focus on repairing his garage door and the broken window in his kitchen.
"I've got to fix up this, fix up that. A lot of things to be done," Ng said.
The fire department said the injured caretaker remained in the hospital as of Sunday evening.