Coroner IDs 4th Victim Of San Bruno Explosion
SAN BRUNO (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) - The coroner has confirmed that an 81-year-old woman is the fourth fatality identified in a massive explosion in a San Bruno last week.
San Mateo County Coroner Robert Foucrault said Tuesday that Elizabeth Torres died in Thursday's fire that consumed her San Bruno home.
Torres' grandson, Frank Torres, says his mother, aunt and uncle also were seriously hurt and are hospitalized with burn injuries.
According to property records, the family's home was yards from the source of the blast.
Foucrault says Elizabeth Torres' cause of death is pending toxicology results.
The others confirmed dead from the explosion are 44-year-old Jacqueline Grieg and her 13-year-old daughter Janessa, as well as 20-year-old Jessica Morales. Four people are still missing.
Meanwhile, PG&E has released new documents about the pre-existing condition of the San Bruno PG&E pipelines.
In a 2009 report, PG&E ranked a nearby section of the San Bruno pipeline in the top 100 high risk sections. The reports says that the likelihood of a failrure makes the risk unacceptably high.
Federal and state investigators say the section of natural gas pipeline that ruptured and exploded in a deadly fireball had been categorized as high risk because it ran through a highly populated area.
The explosion launched a 28-foot section of pipe about 100 feet from underground out onto the street, the vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday.
PG&E is also investigating rumors -- which have so far been unsubstantiated, Williams said -- that residents reported smelling gas in the neighborhood in the days and weeks before the explosion.
The company said it is reviewing its tape-recorded customer service calls.
Tuesday, Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/San Mateo) committed to introducing legislation to provide disaster relief for the affected families of the San Bruno fires and to assist the County of San Mateo and local schools. The legislation will likely be introduced during a special session of the Legislature this fall.
AAA Northern California is offering free tow service to affected residents. If a car was damaged in the fire, the auto association will tow the vehicle to any repair shop within 10 miles of the incident site, regardless of whether the resident is a AAA member.
Meantime, to the victims of the explosion who attended a community meeting Monday night, perhaps the only thing that became perfectly clear was that answers to all their questions would not be given anytime soon.
Led by U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, the meeting brought together representatives from PG&E, the National Transportation Safety Board, the California Public Utilities Commission, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
"They still haven't answered the question," resident Tina Pelligreni said from the back of the church where the meeting was held.
A PG&E official had just responded to a written query posed by her husband, Robert Pellegrini, who wanted to know if the company plans to move the gas line that ruptured Thursday, causing an explosion and fire that destroyed the Pellegrini's home, along with at least 36 others.
The Pellegrinis and at least some of their neighbors want the 30-inch pipe removed, she said. Officials said it is too soon to say whether that will happen.
Speier argued that homeowners and residents should be informed about pipelines coursing through their neighborhoods.
Monday's meeting was held at the Church of the Highlands on Monterey Drive, not far from Claremont Drive, where the Pellegrinis' house stood just days ago.
PG&E has set aside up to $100 million to help San Bruno residents with immediate cash payments and pay for costs that aren't covered by insurance.
Residents will get $15,000, $25,000 or $50,000 depending on the damage to their homes.
PG&E says residents won't be asked to waive legal claims to get the money.
The utility also says it will pay the city of San Bruno for the cost of responding to the disaster and repairing damage. The city got $3 million on Monday.
Monday, The California Public Utilities Commission ordered PG&E to inspect its natural gas pipeline system across the entire state of California, as a result of Thursday's explosion.
Documents obtained by The Associated Press showed that PG&E submitted paperwork to regulators that said a section of the same gas line — about two and half miles from the blast — was within "the top 100 highest risk line sections" in the utility's service territory.
The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration classified the 30-inch diameter transmission line, which ran for about a mile and a half near Greig's home, as a "high consequence area" requiring more stringent inspections called integrity assessments, agency spokeswoman Julia Valentine said.
Nationwide, only about 7 percent of gas lines have that classification, she said.
The state commission gave that section of pipe the same classification and had conducted audits on that stretch, spokeswoman Terrie Prosper said. PG&E also had conducted leak surveys, evaluations and patrols on the gas line, she said.
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