San Bruno Marks Six Months Since Deadly Pipeline Explosion
SAN BRUNO (KCBS) - Survivors of the San Bruno pipeline explosion gathered near the blast site Wednesday to mark six months since eight people lost their lives and dozens of homes were damaged or completely destroyed in the inferno.
Residents trying to rebuild their lives still vividly remember the night the deadly explosion devastated their neighborhood.
KCBS' Margie Shafer Reports:
"I lived right at the epicenter of the fire, so it blew up in our front lawn," said Joe Ruigomez. The third degree burns on his back and chest will take two or three years to heal completely.
Ruigomez turned 20 in the hospital, and was unconscious on a hospital bed during the funeral of his girlfriend, Jessica Morales. He wore a pink and black ribbon a friend had saved for him from her memorial.
Photo Gallery: Explosion Rocks San Bruno Neighborhood
"We would have gone all the way to marriage, have a family together. That's just the worst part of it all, to have that taken away," he said.
Hundreds visited with neighbors and shared hugs, tears and memories amid empty lots now surrounded by chain link fences.
Phil Wargo was on duty with the San Bruno Fire Department on Sept. 9, 2010 when the 30-inch Pacific Gas and Electric natural gas line ripped apart the neighborhood. He drove an engine out of Station 51 in El Camino towards a huge cloud of smoke.
"As we drove up here you could see the fireball," he said.
The firefighter would work a 14-hour shift overnight on the hand line in a situation that pushed his training to its limit.
"It's a once in a lifetime deal when you see something like that. You expect the house fire and do the normal things that we do, but you don't expect something of that magnitude," Wargo said.
Within site of the intersection of Claremont and Glenview, George Karkasias's home remains uninhabitable. It sits next to a field where his neighbors once had a house.
While half the property owners have looked into rebuilding, some said they would not. Two homes are expected to break ground within months.
Karkasias and his wife Colleen moved their two daughters to his parents' home in Burlingame while they work with contractors and insurance agents to fix their water damaged home.
"We're happy that we're here. That's all that counts. We weren't hurt. We're all together, and you know, everything else is just kind of an inconvenience," Karkasias said.
He expects the repair work to be finished by summer.
Ginny Stewart, a licensed clinical social worker who volunteers with the Red Cross, had praise for many who never set foot in the neighborhood but were moved by the tragedy.
"It's wonderful to see the community spirit that's going on here. That's one of the positive things that comes out of disasters like this," she said.
The Red Cross continues to provide long term counseling and offer other services to victims of the blast.
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