Explosion in front of store in downtown S.F.

[swag]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/baycitynews/archive/2005/08/19/explosion19.DTL

Explosion in front of store in downtown S.F.
Bay City News

Friday, August 19, 2005


San Francisco -- The San Francisco Fire Department is sending crews over to a report of a blown-up manhole cover, a fire department dispatcher said.

The incident happened on Post and Kearny in front of the Ralph Lauren clothing store near the Crocker Galleria shopping center, the dispatcher said.

. . .

[whistle]

1. Sewer gases or a bomb?

[peacebird]

3. the manholes covers in DC blew up many times a couple summers ago

it was nothing insidious at all....

poor maintenance or some such....

[Roland99]

10. Sewers near the Univ. of Louisville blew up a couple dozen years ago.

Manhole covers were flying all over the place.

[stevietheman]

14. Yep, 1983 to be exact, in the Old Louisville neighborhood to the north.

I believe a company released flammable liquids into the sewer system.

[Roland99]

15. Yeah...that's it. My aunt was going there at the time and remembers it.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

20. The gas company blamed the electric company

and vice versa.

They still blow now and then.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

26. Won't work in SF.

The gas company is the electrical company - Pacific Gas & Electric.

:)

[MADem]

25. Georgetown--it was like Beirut down there some days!!! n/t

[swag]

2. See also this lounge thread for updates

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=3881505&mesg_id=3881505

[unhappycamper]

4. Happens all the time up here in Boston.

NSTAR is our power company - had some covers blow up in the North End early this week.

[RebelOne]

5. Here's another link

http://www.kcbs.com/pages/kcbs/news/news_story.nsp?story_id=78839720&&ID=kcbs&scategory=Computers

[Hell Hath No Fury]

6. More than just a manhole blow...

a friend was going to enter the building when it went.

[unhappycamper]

7. They make a pretty good bang when they blow.

Is there a crater in the street? If not, it's just crappy maintenance by your local power company.

[fooj]

8. Apparently, according to KGO, a woman was engulfed in flames...

Yikes.

[Roland99]

9. Damn

[fooj]

11. I lived in SF for 3+ years...

I know exactly where the explosion happened and it is LOADED with tourists.

Peace.

[Megahurtz]

12. Methane Fumes!

Eeeeew!

[Rose Siding]

13. Explosion Injures Woman in San Francisco

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/19/AR2005081900935.html

[Megahurtz]

16. I guess this is what typically happens:

Link:

http://science.howstuffworks.com/exploding-manhole1.htm

[TroglodyteScholar]

17. They said on CNN...

...That there's speculation that it was an underground transformer that blew..

But they also said they were able to see ATF agents, so I guess they haven't ruled anything out yet.

[dcfirefighter]

18. Federal Agents mean nothing

when there's a report of an explosion in downtown SF, or any other major city, they show up - if it's just a manhole, they leave.

[davidinalameda]

19. you could see the fire trucks down the street from my building

they left probably about 10:30 or so

[FreepFryer]

21. Happened in NYC today on Broadway, around 11th street.

Purely a coincidence.

[Paranoid Pessimist]

22. Explosion in San Francisco

Details here:

http://cbs5.com/topstories/local_story_231131708.html

It appears not to be terrorist related, unless they have gotten very sophisticated in booby trapping PG&E underground transformers.

Just got back from there. Quite a few city blocks are cordoned off and traffic is terrible and a lot of people are walking around, but it's no 9/11. No one seems to be in shock.

Still, these days, any explosion in a populated area makes everyone nervous.

[arcane1]

23. I just barely missed it

on my way to work (late, as usual)

that would've certainly woken me up!!!

:hi: to another SF DUer!

[davidinalameda]

27. Mayor Newsom is pretty pissed at PG&E as well

go Gavin!

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/08/20/MNG2KEAS0U1.DTL

[musette_sf]

24. I heard it and felt it

The building announced a possible evacuation, so I split in case they decided to stop running BART.

My Spidey Sense told me it was probably a transformer or something like that. But on the other hand, a family member left one of the WFC buildings and headed uptown after the first explosion.

I wasn't gonna hang around on the street to find out if there was gonna be a second explosion.