San Bruno Fire, Explosion Kills At Least 3, Destroys 53 Homes
SAN BRUNO (CBS 5 / KCBS / AP / BCN) - A massive six-alarm fire burned out of control, incinerating dozens of homes and killing at least three people, as it roared through a mostly residential neighborhood in the hills of San Bruno following a loud gas explosion that shot a fireball more than 1,000 feet into the air on Thursday evening.
"We have at least one fatality," San Mateo County coroner Robert Foucrault said initially, although firefighters later told KCBS radio they had found two additional deceased victims in a burned out home; hospitals reported that more than 20 people suffered burn injuries.
Local authorities declared a state of emergency after indicating that the blast, which left a giant crater and sent flames tearing across several blocks, destroyed 53 homes and damaged 120 others in the neighborhood near Skyline Boulevard and San Bruno Avenue, close to Interstate 280.
San Bruno Fire Chief Dennis Haag said it would take fire crews until at least Friday afternoon to do a full search of all the homes for more possible victims of the blaze. Between 150 and 200 firefighters were at the scene, he said.
Haag told CBS 5 that a natural gas line explosion likely caused the deadly blast that sent flames tearing through the neighborhood at 6:14 p.m.
"We believe it's a high-pressure gas line that's blown," Haag said, indicating that firefighters initially had trouble getting close enough to the ruptured gas line to shut it down because of the flames.
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said in a statement that the ruptured gas transmission line was theirs, although they added that the cause of the blast - under investigation by the California Public Utilities Commission - had yet to be officially determined.
"Our thoughts are with the many families that have suffered losses, injuries, and displacement," commission director Paul Clanon said. "Our trained experts will get to the root cause of the explosion and fire."
As of late Thursday night, authorities said the huge fire had grown to 10 acres and was only 50 percent contained. Witnesses said the blaze was preceded by a loud explosion and huge fireball.
PG&E president Chris Johns said his company would "fully cooperate" with the investigation and explore unconfirmed witness reports of the smell of gas in the area before the explosion.
"It's a tragic event, and we really want to make sure that we can make this area safe right now," Johns said.
Some residents originally believed a plane had crashed due to the sound and force of the explosion, as well as their close proximity to San Francisco International Airport, but the Federal Aviation Administration said that no aircraft had gone down.
Jane Porcelli, 62, who lives on the hill above where the fire is centered, said she thought she heard a plane overhead with a struggling engine.
"And then you heard this bang. And everything shook except the floor, so we knew it wasn't an earthquake," Porcelli said. "I feel helpless that I can't do anything. I just gotta sit by and watch."
Victims suffering from serious burns began arriving at Bay Area hospitals shortly after the blast. The number of injured was estimated at 27, with hospital spokespeople saying seven victims were in critical condition.
Four victims were taken to the Saint Francis Memorial Hospital's Bothin Burn Center in San Francisco and all were listed in critical condition. At San Francisco General Hospital, five patients were admitted - three of whom were in critical condition.
Although the majority of the burn patients appeared to have been taken to the Kaiser Permanente's South San Francisco Medical Center, personnel at Seton Medical Center in Daly City and Mills Health Center in San Mateo also reported treating some minor burn victims.
Immediately following the blast, live video images from Chopper 5 showed more than a dozen homes destroyed -- with flames reaching as high as 100 feet in the air as the fire fueled itself on the burning homes.
San Bruno Fire Capt. Charlie Barringer said the neighborhood near the corner of Crestmoore Avenue and Trenton Drive was engulfed by the time firefighters arrived, even though the fire station was only a few blocks away. He said the blast took out the entire water system, forcing firefighters to pump water from more than two miles away.
Planes and helicopters flew over the area dumping water in an effort to stanch the flames. Power was out in the middle-class neighborhood of 1960s-era homes as the aircraft flew overhead.
A giant plume of smoke could be seen coming over the hill from the north side and heading down the Peninsula for as far as the eye could see.
Witnesses described seeing residents fleeing for safety and rushing to get belongings out of their burning homes. Fire officials later said more than 100 residents were being cared for at nearby evacuation centers.
Traffic merging onto Interstate Highway 280 from the neighborhood was almost at a stand-still Thursday night as residents loaded cars with pets and carrying cases and tried to leave the area.
Connie Bushman returned home to find her block was on fire. She said she ran into her house looking for her 80-year-old father but could not find him. A firefighter told her he had left, but she had not been able to track him down.
"I don't know where my father is, I don't know where my husband is, I don't know where to go," Bushman said.
Judy and Frank Serrsseque were walking down a hill away from the flames with a makeshift wagon carrying important documents, medication and three cats.
Judy Serrsseque said she heard an explosion, saw that fire was headed toward their home and knew they had to leave. As they fled, they said they saw people burned and people struggling to get their things out of burning houses.
"We got everything together, and we just got out," Judy Serrsseque. "Mostly we're wondering if we have a house to go back to."
Stephanie Mullen was attending children's soccer practice with her two children and husband at Crestmoor High School when she saw the blast.
"First, it was a low deep roar and everybody looked up, and we all knew something big was happening," she said. "Then there was a huge explosion with a ball of fire that went up behind the high school several thousand feet into the sky."
"Everybody grabbed their children and ran and put their children in their cars," Mullen continued. "It was very clear something awful had happened."
Several minutes later, Mullen - who works as an Associated Press photographer - was three or four blocks away from the fire scene and said she could feel the heat of the blaze on her face.
"I could see families in the backyards of the homes next to where the fire was, bundling their children and trying to get them out of the backyards," she recounted.
She said people in the neighborhood were yelling, "This is awful," ''I live down there," and "My family is down there."
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.)
