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NEWS > U.S.A. > SAN BRUNO EXPLOSION INVESTIGATION TURNS TO HOMES THAT DIDN’T FIGHT BACK
SAN BRUNO EXPLOSION INVESTIGATION TURNS TO HOMES THAT DIDN’T FIGHT BACK
September 12 2010
San Bruno, CA – The sleepy town of San Bruno now looks more like a post-apocalyptic nightmare than the suburban paradise it was only a few days ago. The massive fireball that engulfed the city, killing at least seven and destroying dozens of 
homes, has cast a major pall over the city and transformed the community forever. As rescuers continue to sift through the rubble trying to find the last few people still missing, and as investigators dig deep into the causes of the explosion, many in the community are asking questions while trying to heal.
At the heart of the investigation is the natural gas pipeline which broke open sometime on September 9th. That led to a slow leak of gas throughout the neighbourhood and at 6:11 PM prompted an explosion that levelled a neighbourhood. With officials from Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E)and the NTSB on scene, trying to determine whether the explosion was a result of ineptitude, sabotage, or if it was merely an accident one thing has started to become abundantly clear to everyone involved; that the houses simply did nothing to fight back as the fires tore through them, destroying the lives of their inhabitants.
“It does everyone a disservice to point fingers before any investigation of the facts 
has even begun. This is an incredible tragedy on a scale that we cannot totally
comprehend even now. Our hearts go out to those who have lost loved ones and those who have been injured in this incident however we do not want to jump to any conclusions before compiling all the facts. Such behaviour will not work towards safeguarding any other lives or property,” said a spokesperson for PG&E. “This area of pipeline was inspected only last year and we make great efforts to safeguard the strength of these pipelines, particularly those that travel through residential areas. There are many things that could have caused this incident but we are not going to start making assumptions, we will act on data.”
The company was also involved in a similar incident near Sacramento in 2008. That incident killed a 72-year old man. The company was first made famous for groundwater contamination in Hinckley, California which was featured in the movie ‘Erin Brockovich’.
“Look, it’s clear that the pipeline exploded and it could have been our fault or it could 
have been something else and that will become clear in the next few days. What is
totally clear though is that these houses were not built to withstand these kinds of explosions and that is the core problem,” said a PG&E insider. “I mean we will share our burden of the responsibility but these houses are supposed to be designed to resist earthquakes so they should have been able the stand up to a little fire. These kinds of things are going to happen in earthquakes so they need to be ready for that. Frankly, the houses, the builders, and the homeowners have to share some of the blame for the level of destruction.”
At least 53 homes were destroyed in the blast and a further 120 damaged. None appeared to have fought back in any way.
“People are suffering and we don’t want to place all of the blame on them but the reality is there is only so much we can do. People have to meet us half way in these kinds of things and that didn’t happen here. The houses are pieces of junk and made no effort to withstand the blast and we can’t be held responsible for that,” continued the insider. “Further, if people just hadn’t been in the houses things would not have been nearly as bad. We understand people want to stay inside their houses but we don’t tell them when to do that. The people that were killed in their homes, well they made the choices that led them to that end and we can’t be liable for that. I have a feeling though that the government won’t see it that way.”
San Bruno homes have been routinely criticized for being a little wimpy.
Mike Michaels, American Correspondent
NEWS > U.S.A. > SAN BRUNO EXPLOSION INVESTIGATION TURNS TO HOMES THAT DIDN’T FIGHT BACK
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