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San Bruno Gas Pipeline Explosion Death Toll Now Four

The death toll from the devastating gas pipeline explosion that ripped through a San Bruno neighborhood over the weekend, has now been revised to four from the earlier seven.  Meanwhile, residents of the neighborhood are now being allowed to return to their homes, many of which have been severely damaged.  There has been much disbelief at the kind of devastation that these residents have found, after they returned to their homes or, in many cases, what was left of them.

The explosion has been traced to a rupture in a gas transmission line near the San Francisco International Airport.  The massive explosion resulted in a giant fireball, with flames leaping hundreds of feet into the air.  The explosion tore through a neighborhood, and is expected to have damaged approximately 377 houses.  On Sunday afternoon, many of the residents return back to their neighborhoods, to survey the damage.  Residents returned only to about 290 of the houses.  The remaining 84 households are still off-limits to their owners because they have either been completely destroyed, or have extensive property damage.  In some cases, these houses are on a police perimeter that is close to the site of the explosion.

Firefighters and investigators are now combing through the site of the explosion, poking through rubble to see if they can find more clues about the origin of explosion.  Right now, California injury lawyers are focusing much of their attention on a possible rupture of a gas line.  Adding credence to that theory is the fact that many residents in the area reported smelling gas in the days before the explosion.  Some residents claim that they reported the gas smell to Pacific Gas and Electric, which owns the line.  The company says that it’s been poring through records of complaints since the days before the explosion, and has so far, has not found any complaints relating to a gas smell.

The pipeline was installed back in 1948, and according to documents obtained by CNN, was classified as having a relatively high risk of failure.  According to documents that were prepared by Pacific Gas and Electric, this risk was unacceptably high, because of the heavy density of population in the vicinity of the pipeline.

The National Transportation Safety Board has already dispatched an investigation team to the site.  According to representatives, a 28-foot section of the pipe has already been excavated, and is now in the process of being sent to the agency’s metallurgy lab in Washington.  Meanwhile, Plastic Gas and Electric is submitting all documents related to the pipeline to the National Transportation Safety Board.

Authorities are also asking local residents who called the company to complain of the smell of gas, to contact the National Transportation Safety Board.  The agency wants to hear from locals who made the complaints.  It is also asking local residents to submit any video footage that they might have captured of the explosion.  These resources are will greatly help the agency in its investigation.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of San Bruno Gas Pipeline Explosion. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not representing any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

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