Six people were injured after a gas explosion set off a major fire in a San Francisco Bay Area neighbourhood on Thursday when it blew up a property, shaking nearby homes.
The Alameda County Fire Department said the victims were hospitalized after crews responded to a “major incident” in Hayward following a structure fire and explosion reported at 9:38 a.m. local time. Three others suffered minor injuries.
“The fire escalated to three alarms, with 75 firefighters. Three buildings were destroyed, and adjacent structures were damaged,” the fire department added.
The fire department confirmed all residents have been accounted for, while the Red Cross is assisting the displaced families.
Dramatic video footage captured on a doorbell camera showed a home in the Hayward area sitting under a blue sky when it suddenly exploded, spewing jagged wood and other debris into the air as smoke billowed.
Brittany Maldonado, who lives across the street from the home, told The Associated Press that she was in her bedroom with her husband when she heard the blast.
“Boxes fell over and everything shook. We thought someone had just flown off the freeway and their car was in our living room. It was like someone had just launched a bomb,” she said.
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That’s when they looked at their doorbell camera footage and saw their neighbour’s home explode.
The doorbell video also showed a large excavator being used to dig in front of the home that exploded as a worker stood nearby.
Alameda County Deputy Fire Chief Ryan Nishimoto said three others sustained minor injuries.
Three structures on two separate lots were severely damaged, Nishimoto said.
The neighbourhood had been undergoing construction work for wider sidewalks and bike lanes.
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E) was alerted around 7:35 a.m. that a third-party construction crew had damaged an underground gas line. Utility workers arrived to isolate the damaged line, but gas was leaking from various locations.
Workers stopped the flow of gas at 9:25 a.m., and the explosion followed shortly afterward.
Gas was flowing for two hours but the explosion happened 10 minutes after the line was shut off, PG&E spokesperson Tamar Sarkissian confirmed. She said it took time to isolate the line and stop the flow of gas.
PG&E told Fox affiliate KTVU that three of the company’s workers were among the injured, but did not reveal their conditions.
The cause of the explosion and fire is currently under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.
— With files from The Associated Press
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