Huge explosion near a family member's house!! Crap!

[Obi..]

*We smelled gas really bad this past week and thought it was just a leaking propane bottle in the garage or a neighbor's grill not turned off.
:tapedshut:

http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2010/09/09/mn-blast10_PH1xx_0502210453.jpg
http://imgs.sfgate.com/n/p/2010/09/09/77e15828-f32a-4b24-ad4a-b54d01f17552.jpg
http://imgs.sfgate.com/n/p/2010/09/09/efc8791e-1803-4d45-a356-fdb4db3899db.jpg

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&gl=us&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=108844653904615566212.00048fdf028876f7ac427

Live feed: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/livenow?id=7659504

[Obi..]

"State of Emergency" declared! man, I had my phone turned off until I got off work @ 8pm and it's been ringing every 5 minutes since then.. :(

Evac's are basing out of Bayhill Shopping Center @ San Bruno Ave. and Cherry, just east of the San Bruno exit off of HWY 35/Skyline. Hwy 35 is shut down in the area..consider reroute via 101 to reach evac site. (No access between Sneath and San Bruno Ave.)

Here's what I have right now:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en...f028876f7ac427

Trying to keep it together in front of family right now..not gonna cry.. neighborhood's wiped out completely..part of where I grew up and have many friends and family there. ;(

[Scuba]

Saw this on the news.. Stay safe Shane. Hope everything is alright with you.

[Obi..]

Thanks Steve, I'm fine I am @ home w/ the wife and family. (Working in the South Bay..living in East Bay) It's my family there and their friends that are evac'd I am worried about, it's calm winds now, but the situation can change quickly.

Hell of a way to get me to open a topic these days.. :(

[some_odd_girl]

Wow, that's horrible... I will say a prayer.

[Obi..]

The glow you can see from the remaining flames from burning house gas mains is unreal..everyone we know is ok, 1 injured family friend, luckily really minor. The glow is totally unreal and saddening. I'm home and gonna try to get some sleep. Some people have lost everything, the news called it a "conflagration"..

5 block War Zone is more accurate..the place is leveled or burnt..but at least people are safe.

Slideshow: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_16035520

We're all ok otherwise, I just need to be there for support now..

ABC 7 News S.F. will pick up again in the morning..tomorrow will be interesting to say the least.

[some_odd_girl]

I'm really glad your family and friends are ok.

[Erich_870]

Wow! That's crazy! Prayers to all those who lost their homes and especially for the families who lost loved ones :(

Your report of smelling gas, plus others reported in the news means big trouble for the gas utility company :loser:

Erich

[corax]

Glad to hear everyone's OK Shane.

Bad year for hydrocarbon leaks . . .

[troyboy162]

wait you smelled propane really bad for a whole week prior to this?

[Crinale]

wait you smelled propane really bad for a whole week prior to this?

methinks the gas company is gonna have some lawsuits on their hands...

[troyboy162]

wait you smelled propane really bad for a whole week prior to this?

methinks the gas company is gonna have some lawsuits on their hands...

it might be hard for people to win if they all say they smelled the gas for a week.

[Erich_870]

it might be hard for people to win if they all say they smelled the gas for a week.


I see it as the other way around. If only one person reports it and the gas company couldn't find a leak in thier system for a week and then it blows up, that's pretty much entirely on the gas company. :chair:

You can't appear to take your time or give the impression to the public that a leak is unimportant to your company then have a whole neighborhood explode and kill 6 people and not get your pants sued off! :tapedshut:

Erich

[troyboy162]

..if anyone reported it

[wifesaysimadumbass]

As most of you know i work for San Diego Gas and Electric. We've been inunudated with calls since this happen. As far as our company goes we take leak calls very seriously we do lots of checks especially if we recieve multiple calls. Where I think this went wrong is most of the time when searching for a leak you are searching the smaller service that go to the individual houses. We were almost never looking for a 24 inch main to be leaking! Transmission lines have a different department that maintains all their systems. Somehow the leak got missed and was probably thought to be any number of things that people think erroneaously are gas leaks. Anyway you look at it Shis has hit the fan and every utility is watching what happens and is try to check their stuff right now

[paddlenbike]

That is crazy. A contractor hit a gas main about 1/4 mile from my house last week. There was a knock on my door at nearly 10:00pm--PG&E had to turn off the gas mains to 1,500 individual houses and they were out turning them back on and relighting people's hotwater heaters and furnaces. They said that contractor's mistake caused two days of a major highway closure, full-time crews (from out of the area) working overnight on the repair, traffic control, service reconnection to 1,500 homes, etc., will cost the contractor nearly a million dollars. That was without a fire and fatalities, you can imagine what the San Bruno situation is going to cost.

[Seanz0rz]

at cal poly pomona, with all the construction, a gas line is ruptured about once a month. amazing no one has died...

[4x4mike]

I read yesterday that PG&E set up a $100M fund for the victims. The money is for their day to day expenses and comes with no strings. They also gave the city $3m to cover the city's expenses for handing the incident. Residents who had home destroyed or damaged are getting $50,000 checks and residents were told the checks would not preclude them from taking further legal action against PG&E.

Bummer all around. Looks like PG&E is stepping up to the plate but it's too bad there had to be so much devistation.

[Seanz0rz]

and this really could happen anywhere. i know on the street i live on (right at the point where it narrows from 4 to 2 lanes) there is a sizable gas line that feeds all the neighborhoods around me.

anyone remember the duffy street accident (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Bernardino_train_disaster) in '89? i was almost 3 so i dont, but my mom and i were driving down hwy 18 to see my dad in the hospital after our accident in the mountains. she remembers seeing a fireball higher than we were. horrible accident.

i guess if it's your time to go, the universe will find a way.

[Bob98SR5]

Mikey, what do you do for SDG&E? I work for SCE. i hear ya on the shizzle hitting the fan every once in awhile. while theres no excuse for negligence, shizzle happens. i'm still learning more about this incident, i have not drawn any conclusions or come to any finger pointing.

if people were truly smelling it for a week, theyd be driven out of their homes. natural gas and propane are the most disgusting smells. correct me if i'm wrong, but gas companies who make natural gas and propane add some sick smelling crap to it so leaks are immediately detectable by the nose

[corax]

correct me if i'm wrong, but gas companies who make natural gas and propane add some sick smelling crap to it so leaks are immediately detectable by the nose


You're right, natural gas (mostly methane) and propane are both odorless and colorless so they add a sulphur / rotten egg scent

[wifesaysimadumbass]

The stuff they put into the gas to make an odor is call Mercapten. The latest word that I got from our bosses is that PGE had been getting reports of gas odors in this area for 6 MONTHS! sounds like lawsuit city. Bob I am currently testing the new electric smart meters as they come in doing QA work

[Erich_870]

Any updates on this? Has it been in the news since it first happened? Any heads roll yet?

I just saw an article talking about the sad shape of the underground natural gas infrastructure in America.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/02/28/aging-natural-gas-pipelines-ticking-time-bomb-say-experts/

Erich

[4x4mike]

NPR did a story this morning regarding underground pipeline condition in America. The story was from Denver. It referenced the San Bruno explosion. I think it's in the news here and there but people want more money and PG&E and probably pulling a BP.

[Obi..]

Not at liberty to discuss if that says anything..lame huh?

[4x4mike]

Not at liberty to discuss if that says anything..lame huh?


Why did a house YOU own blow up? If not who cares?