Huge blast in San Bruno (Calif.); neighborhood on fire

[Newsjock]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

A huge explosion rocked San Bruno shortly after 6 p.m. today, sending up a massive fireball and a white and black plume of smoke that is visible for miles.

Television pictures of the blast site along Skyline Boulevard showed at least half a dozen houses on fire and trees in the neighborhood fully engulfed in a surging blaze.

San Mateo County sheriff's deputies and police were evacuating residents near the fireball. Firefighters are going door to door, ordering people out of their houses and setting up equipment to battle the raging flames.

A San Bruno police dispatcher said she did not know what had exploded. Some of those interviewed on television are saying they heard and saw an airplane crash before the explosion.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/09/BADP1FBJRS.DTL

---

The live TV is now saying at least 20 homes destroyed.
Live video stream at http://cbs5.com

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Natural gas

anybody want to place a bet?

This is Guadalajara

[skoalyman]

4. that my guess too

;(

[greyl]

7. "There is a high-pressure gas line in the area."

Looks like the fire source isn't dissipating at all, either.

edit: quote and vid here: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/peninsula&id=7659529

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. Infrastructure

PG&E will do all it can to avoid responsibility...

Mark my words, assuming my gut is right.

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. Story says planes

but no airport has any planes missing... if we are right, infrastructure...

[dave29]

10. once again we operations folks know what we are looking at

:(

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. I am laughing... the kind of laughter

I used to tell my guys... do it AWAY from civilians please.

Yes my dirty mind is going back to ALL THOSE JOKES...

No, I will be polite.

[dave29]

19. roger that

:patriot:

[jwirr]

64. That was the first thing I thought about. Once was driving past a home

when it exploded and this sounds much like that.

[antigone382]

101. a comparative picture of today

I can't believe how tiny the houses look in comparison to that flame.

[Tsiyu]

106. Wow

Thanks for posting.

I should be in bed instead of on DU but this fire is awful.

[antigone382]

109. ditto...

[truedelphi]

215. What a shot. Someone captured Hell perfectly. n/t

[alp227]

2. I was watching the Saints/Vikings game; learned about this via special ticker

that the local NBC station put on top of the screen after the Vikings' first TD of the game (right now the Vikings lead the Saints 9-7 at halftime). But that station, KNTV, cut off part of the halftime show just to report on it/show footage...showing on one part of the screen the halftime show sans subtitles at least and on the other the fire. My heart goes out to the victims of the San Bruno fire and I will follow the investigation. If any lives are lost, that'll be even more sad.

[Schema Thing]

3. Is it Terrorism!!11??

OMFG, it's terrorism, isn't it?

[DBoon]

8. Yes if you call underfunded public infrastructure and unregulated businesses...

.. that aren't held accountable for public safety

I think one could easily call every republican leader since Reagan a terrorist for these reasons

Why bomb a neighborhood when you can create the type of infrastructure decay that make an explosion inevitable?

[defendandprotect]

58. Thanks for the info ....will keep it in mind ---

[rabs]

5. Live raw feed is amazing

That fireball is not dying down so it could be natural gas pipeline.

Thanks for the link to the live feed.

[dave29]

11. They need to get folks far from that neighborhood and the heat. n/t

[CreekDog]

38. they say it's a 16-24 inch pipeline.

my friend is blocks away and he just saw 7 ambulances roar by in a row.

[EFerrari]

85. Well, I see you haven't gone up in flames.

That's good news. I hope everybody is okay.

[Newsjock]

6. Eyewitness saw the ground explode

From CBS5: "It looked like a truck was driving under the ground and pushing it up."

[dave29]

9. Call before you dig, folks.

:(

[jgraz]

55. Can home equipment breach a 24'' high-pressure pipe? That thing must be pretty tough.

Not tough enough, apparently.

[dave29]

66. not necessarily home equipment,

it could be a construction crew, or none of the above. But don't assume you are safe to dig, ever.

[nadinbrzezinski]

73. No, not home equipment

[pinboy3niner]

115. Amen!

I lived a few houses away from the Palms, CA gasoline pipeline explosion in '74. It was a large gasoline supply pipeline from the refinery in El Segundo, and it was ruptured by a backhoe working on a boulevard median.

It was fortunate that there were only a few deaths in that case (including a heart attack in the neighborhood), especially with the rupture occurring directly in front of the local grocery store. Flames shot 400' in the air for several hours before the supply was shut off.

IIRC, one problem in that case was inaccurate marking/mapping of pipeline depths, so the call program may not have been a factor, but my memory is fuzzy on it. I may have to look up the report of the NTSB investigation to see what they concluded about causation.

[dave29]

227. there are so many things that can go wrong

and so little utility companies do to ensure their field techs, operators, engineers, and dig notice systems are running at 100%. What we have as insurance for our ENTIRE infrastructure relies on whether or not these companies feel their budgets can afford to "waste" money on the expertise needed in this area.

I was once in a battle with my management about outsourcing the entire physical security of a major fiber optic carrier overseas. This included management of all dig notices. When it became clear to me that I was kept on to write a script to replace not only the hard work I had done for so many years, but myself and the dedicated guys who were 100% in safety... I became a very cynical man. So did the field techs who were now talking to people that did not understand what the "right of way" was, despite their best intentions. Everyone involved was very nice, but there are some things you just don't risk. And this didn't even have to do with gas. It had to do with people being able to call their families on days like 9/11. Or, God forbid, if terrorists attacked any of our infrastructure itself.

[CreekDog]

15. I'm in the area and it's pretty scary, though I'm far enough away

But blocks were just flattened.

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. That nails it

natural gas.

Just because rarely you can have a cascade failure... get ready to get out of there on a second's notice.

And BE CAREFUL.

The worst I ever went to was San Juanico



We had those...

Bad infrastructure, hot fire, and cascade failures.

[ginnyinWI]

23. my son and family live just a few blocks away...

He called to say that they are all right but their neighborhood has been evacuated. They are parked in their car across Skyline Blvd just watching the flames.

[YvonneCa]

29. ginnyinWI...

...I'm so glad they are okay. :hug:

[ginnyinWI]

32. yeah I am too!

First I heard about it was when he called. He thought it was a plane crash--they'd heard such a loud boom. But apparently it is a gas main.

[YvonneCa]

34. I was watching the video...

...and it's horrendous. If I can be of any help, let me know.

[ginnyinWI]

43. all I can do is give them information if they call back...

I'm watching the live feed of their local news. According to Google maps, the center of the explosion was only a third of a mile away from their house! It's a rental that they just moved into at the beginning of August--he just started working at Dreamworks Animation. I was there--helped them move in. Hope they still have a home tomorrow...

[YvonneCa]

47. PM me if you need me to...

...help. I'm in California...not in SF...but probably closer than where you are. If there's anything I can do, don't hesitate. :)

[ginnyinWI]

thanks.

I'm waiting to get a call back and see what's happening. They have friends they can stay with who are about 20 min. south-- if they need to.

[YvonneCa]

50. Thinking of you...

...I have adult kids, too. We never stop worrying, do we? :hug:

[ginnyinWI]

59. I hope the little ones won't be too traumatized.

They have two little boys, ages one and three. They've probably decided to go to their friends' for the night. That's what I'd do. The friends also have two little ones.

[YvonneCa]

65. I'm sure they will all hang out with friends. It's good that...

...they know people.

I'm a grandma, too, so I know how hard it must be waiting to hear from them. I hope they contsct you soon.

[ginnyinWI]

185. update!

My son's house is okay, but they have no water and electricity for the time being. My brother, who lives in Napa, got in touch right away, and invited them to come up there. So they drove up last night, and will be staying at least through the weekend. So glad that they have some family in the area! They had run out of the house with the kids and the car keys and nothing else. My brother was wonderful--went shopping for diapers and such, and fed them dinner as they all watched coverage of the fire on TV.

[YvonneCa]

198. Oh, that's SUCH good news! The more I watch this...

...coverage, the more it becomes apparent how lucky they (and all those who escaped) were.

I am SO glad your son and his family are okay...and that your brother was there to help. You must feel so relieved. I'm still serious about the help if you or your family need anything, ginny. :)

[nadinbrzezinski]

72. They will need to watch kids for nightmares

and listen to the three year old...

A nice teddy bear will go a long way. But silly shit like a barbecue could bring the stress out.

:-)

[nadinbrzezinski]

30. If you can tell them to get further away

just in case there are further failures.

Please.

[CreekDog]

90. To come home to see what looked like an orange blowtorch up the hill...

and to know there's people up there, people i know. :(

and firefighting airplanes swooping up and down over the neighborhood.

just :(

[dave29]

27. just to be safe, maybe get farther away

The images are awful

[Book Lover]

16. deleted after hearing channel 7 correction

[OmahaBlueDog]

18. I saw a Twitter reportr saying PG& E confirns gas line is cause

Also-- 24" line. Sorry. No link.

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. That is a big line

OUCH...

my mind is definitely going into all those jokes that are not fit for public consumption.

And kiddies this is why we need to spend money in caring and feeding of infrastructure.

Oh and sadly there will be people missing.

[OmahaBlueDog]

35. Here is what I'm guessing was the source of the tweet

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/peninsula&id=7659529

"It is believed that a 24-inch PG&E high-pressure gas line is the source of the explosion and fire."

I cannot find confirmation of the tweet saying PG&E has confirmed the cause

[nadinbrzezinski]

36. If this is the main line

they could have failures all across the secondary lines and the PSV... aka the emergency valves.

[LonePirate]

21. Are they able to turn off the pipeline somewhere? What sort of human toll are we looking at here?

[dave29]

24. it's going to effect the gas supply to huge areas. This is very bad.

I expect many died, or will.

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. Lines have shut off valves every so often

they are part of the safety equipment that has to go into them

http://www.globalspec.com/LearnMore/Flow_Control_Flow_Transfer/Valves/Emergency_Shut_Off_Valves_ESV

Realize the blast wave went down the pipe too, and if the fire is hot enough it could have damaged them, increasing the risk of a cascade failure.

As to human toll... brace yourself we will have missing people tomorrow... that's just the way it is.

Been there, done that... got the T-Shirt.

[rainbow4321]

79. The low number of people showing up in local ER's is worrisome

Reminds me of how the ER's around Ground Zero said that they were all prepared for crowds of victims...and none were coming.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

22. Live Link: ABC Local (for those that missed the link upthread)

Very windy - fire appears to be spreading: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/livenow?id=7659504

[Warpy]

33. Holy shit! That looks like London during the Blitz, fire everywhere

One of those pipelines blew up here many years ago. A family camping nearly half a mile away was incinerated, huge crater was left in the ground.

When one of those things goes, it destroys everything around it.

[lonestarnot]

51. In 30 minutes there will be an update as to shutoff.

[IndianaGreen]

69. I am watching this nightmare!

Pipeline explosions are always bad.

[Hekate]

87. Thanks so much for that live link. They think 2 dozen homes are involved now. ...

Then they amended it to "several dozen."

[Duer 157099]

25. Early reports were saying people saw a plane crash

???

At least two people who called into CBS local station said that they saw/heard a low flying jet (this is very close to SFO, in the flight path)

[nadinbrzezinski]

28. That was the rumbling of the line failing

I saw that and even BEFORE I read the full story I went GAS LINE failure.

[skygazer]

31. Wind is blowing too

I saw some video of it - horrendous. The flames are just shooting into the sky in a rolling fireball. Who knows how many homes will be lost - and whether lives have been lost. :(

Scary stuff.

[proud patriot]

37. Live local Coverage on KRON 4

[jgraz]

60. Server is down... here's the ABC 7 link

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/livenow?id=6498350

[nadinbrzezinski]

39. Listening to the coverage

they are talking of main failure and also of slowly closing down the feed... I hope they are not getting PSV failures... (that is the valves)...

45 houses destroyed prelim... it will be higher...

Question folks, why haven't our news critters broken into BREAKING NOOZ?

[dave29]

40. not one CNN, MSNBC, FOX

covered more than a few moments, yet

[dave29]

41. you can at least watch it on the net.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/peninsula&id=7659529

[nadinbrzezinski]

42. CNN did five seconds of this

land of fruits and nuts... I know what they are covering is important but this is also important.

[dave29]

44. One eye witness says she heard a loud noise... and then another 10 minutes later

ugh

[nadinbrzezinski]

48. You and I probably know better than most what that means

My worst fear... and from watching houses I cannot tell. I need an overhead shot. Somehow I doubt I will get one.

[Retrograde]

45. What, and interrupt Jersey Shore?

Here in the Bay Area all the local channels are covering it - a lot of them have streaming video. I'm about 35 miles south of it and haven't smelt anything so far (except one of the neighbors cooking something with a lot of garlic), but it's going to have a big impact on the area: one of the main roads into San Francisco goes through the fire area.

(Facetious answer to your question: it's almost 11:30 in the important part of the world, i.e., where cable news shows are based. They've all gone to bed by now.)

[CreekDog]

169. cable nets don't "do news" anymore

or else why could my mom have CNN on ALL DAY two weeks ago and know all about the mosque controversy and be surprised when i told her it wasn't at ground zero but two blocks away (yes) and that it was a center not just a mosque and that there's already a mosque nearby.

a day of watching CNN could tell her there was controversy, could talk endlessly about the story all day yet couldn't report the basic, takes 20 seconds to say, facts of the story. did she miss it? or was CNN's vaunted coverage lacking critical facts like that? i'll take that bet.

CNN YOU ARE WORTHLESS. :grr:

I think we should all band together to put these guys out of business until they are so scared that they do their job right out of fear of failure --the same fear that most Americans live with everyday.

[CreekDog]

168. i never saw CNN, MSNBC or Fox cover it at all

worthless.

they only "news" they cover is what people in DC are yakking endlessly and ignorantly about. on location coverage consists of a stupid talking head in a studio in some other large city. :grr:

the cable "news" networks has pretty much given up on reporting outside DC --and they suck at the "beat" in DC too.

[Newsjock]

46. Trapped families called 911 from inside their homes

Unable to get out, surrounded by flames, according to CBS5. The fate of these callers is unknown.

[YvonneCa]

49. I heard that. This is pretty awful. n/t

[Hekate]

92. That gives me the chills.

[MissB]

95. Yep. We always assume the rescue crews will save our asses.

Turns out there are times they can't.

These folks were probably having a perfectly normal evening.

[TeeYiYi]

180. Yours is the most telling post...

... of all posts on this subject so far. :(

TYY

[truedelphi]

219. I think the final death rate will be far higher than

What is being said at 11 Am today. So far today I have heard death toll at four.

They are relying on "missing persons" reports.

Which means if a whole family is wiped out, it could be several days for family members outside the neighborhood to start realizing they are not around.

And the single person households and the elderly couples are very vulnerable to not being immediately reported as being gone.

[Newsjock]

52. FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force is on the scene

Confirmed on video. Everyone stresses that this is not because of any specific suspicion.

[dave29]

53. this, unfortunately, cannot be ruled out as well

but if it was an attack, it was on this line.

[Newsjock]

54. And mostly for the benefit of folks from elsewhere:

The explosion site is almost within spittin' distance (about 2 miles) of the SFO airport. It's on one of the major takeoff/landing paths.

[jgraz]

57. There was a similar explosion last year in Walnut Creek (east bay)

It's likely the same company was responsible for the maintenance of both lines.

[nadinbrzezinski]

70. That is standard with this...

you got to make sure you rule that off.

They are also bringing out DECON gear? WOW!

[dave29]

71. yuh

huh

[pinboy3niner]

78. NTSB should also be dispatching a 'Go Team' (if it hasn't already)

While the agency is known primarily for its aviation investigations, it also investigates accidents in other modes of transportation--RR and RRT, marine, pipeline, and highway.

[nadinbrzezinski]

111. Absolutely

the usual suspects are on alert or on the way... including them.

Now the crater is still on fire...

[DBoon]

182. So when will they arrest Grover "drown government in a bathtub" Norquist?

deregulation plus underfunded public safety = terrorism

[jgraz]

56. Just heard 45+ homes are gone.

[defendandprotect]

62. Terrible -- was looking at the time -- 6pm -- everyone home -- !!

[depakid]

100. Considering the trafic in the Bay Area, not as many as might have been

[defendandprotect]

221. Good, I see today so far, reports of 6 reported dead -- could have been many more??

[Kievan Rus]

61. Wow. It looks that one town that got overrun by lava in Hawaii about 20 years ago

[defendandprotect]

63. Are you watching on internet or cable?

If internet give us a link if you can -- ??

thank you --

[jgraz]

67. Working link (for now)

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/livenow?id=6498350

Local stations are being overrun with online viewers. KRON servers just went down.

[defendandprotect]

86. thank you -- !!

[LostinVA]

68. I know there's a live feed from one of the SF stations

That's all I know.

[nadinbrzezinski]

74. here

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

[KamaAina]

205. Except that it took months for the lava to get down to Kalapana

everyone had long since left by time it got there.

This took an hour or so, while we all watched on live TV. :(

[jgraz]

75. Here's a story on the previous explosion

http://spewingforth.blogspot.com/2005/05/walnut-creek-explosion-companies-cited.html

Holy crap, I can't believe it was 6 years ago.

[dave29]

77. and why was that line not marked?

Either someone failed to make a phone call (into the state One Call Center... I believe there are two for California), or someone at the company that got the notice and saw that it applied to their line failed to do their job (failed to route the one call notice correctly, processed the notice incorrectly, or the field tech was negligent in his duty).

Edit to add yes:

USAS and USAN -- those are the one call centers in CA.

http://www.call811.com/state-specific.aspx

[nadinbrzezinski]

76. From, feed, they are talking of 20-25 houses leveled

tonight will be fun for me to sleep...

Anyhow... they are also gone regional mutual aid... will be going state wide at most in three hours. They DO NOT have the specialized shit... they really don't

I am not sure from the feed if they have enough burn beds, I actually doubt it... just from the hell I've been to. So I will not be too shocked to see a DMAT team sent in either.

[haele]

113. They're probably getting ready to fly to the burn centers in Texas and SoCal -

If it's near SFO, they might start bringing some of the medevac flights out of Travis.
Damn, this is really a disaster.

Haele

[mindwalker_i]

80. I am so tempted

to grab a pack of hot dogs and head up there, but my wife vetoed that :(

[KamaAina]

81. FAIL

There are already reports of casualties. So, "that was so funny I forgot to laugh".

[antigone382]

82. Not funny n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

89. Either you got a sick sense of humor or...

You are a firefighter, EMT et al.

There is a reason why them jokes are not spoken about with the public.

Trust me... the thinks running through my mind tonight are NOT fit for public consumption.

[mindwalker_i]

229. Yes, I have a sick sense of humor

This is probably one of the worse things that's popped into my mind, but definitely not the worst.

[Duer 157099]

83. Some people in the neighborhood were saying they smelled gas

for the past week or so, and reported it to PG&E but apparently PG&E didn't do anything. ????

[Kievan Rus]

88. Sounds like a structural failure due to decay

[CreekDog]

91. a resident told that to KTVU about 1/2 hour ago:

San Bruno resident Tim Gutierrez just told a KTVU-2 FOX reporter that PG&E there days ago responding to gas smell in area.

[MissB]

94. Quite the pic.

[nadinbrzezinski]

102. That's a keeper

[dave29]

99. I made a phone call once to report an incident just like that

I have to assume the company took more care in their response.

[Book Lover]

84. Follow the twitter hashtag #sanbrunofire for widest range of news sources

Also, SFist.com is keeping up with info pretty well, if you can't get any streaming news.

[nadinbrzezinski]

93. Disaster alert cancelled at few hospitals

that is GOOD news.

[Duer 157099]

96. Unless it means that too many never made it out n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

97. Trust me, that went through my mind

[Duer 157099]

98. 15 foot crater at Glenview and Earl n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

103. Emergency Declaration has been signed

[dave29]

104. 200 people seeking shelter

so far.

[mackerel]

107. With all the drama in the East bay Vallejo & Hercules

and now the Southwest Bay with San Bruno. The Bay Area is in melt down.

[Newsjock]

105. PG&E confirms one of their gas lines ruptured

Via email statement to the media

[nadinbrzezinski]

110. They just bought a bunch of houses

[jgraz]

154. Especially since residents had been reporting gas smells for a week.

[nadinbrzezinski]

108. Well, well according to one reporter

the pipe failed like a banana, that is structural failure. And the place looks like a warzone... the latter... DUH!

[dave29]

112. yep... unexpected.

wow

[nadinbrzezinski]

114. Can I smell them or what?

What surprises me is that they are now admitting to it.

Oh and CNN is now covering it...

They found their ass!!!!!!

And local coverage is going on and on as to why they cannot turn it off all at once. ESV cascade, that is what I think is going on.

[mackerel]

118. They're saying a water main also broke which added to the

problems. There was no water to treat the fires.

There is a play ground in the area they don't believe there were any children playing when the explosion occurred.

[nadinbrzezinski]

119. And I am hoping there were no kids

[CreekDog]

170. are you saying the ESV's failed?

like melted or deformed?

so they have to manually shut off or make sure the flow is stopped?

[nadinbrzezinski]

194. It can fail from the pressure wave

and not just shut off. I am not there. Just readying tea leaves.

But... would not surprise me. It does happen if you have a high enough of a pressure wave. Remember it goes up, but some of it goes right down the main. Why firelighters always fear a cascade failure...

[truedelphi]

217. From what I know of the South Bay area - all the way out to San Joae

The Good SOuls at PG & E don't put in ESV's.

I know many people who after an earthquake make sure their gas supply (and often that of the neighbors) is shut off.

And for whatever reason, it never gets mandated by legislatures either.

[Tansy_Gold]

117. Is this another "No one could have imagined" moment?

:grr:

TG, NTY

[nadinbrzezinski]

120. Not me... you don't care for your infrastructure

it WILL fail.

[Tansy_Gold]

122. I should have added the :sarcasm: but figured most of us here

understand the reference to Condi Rice's comments re 9/11.

But you're correct, of course. So many of us have been watching and waiting for things like this to happen. The bridge in Minnesota, the dam in Iowa. All just more examples of the building catastrophe.

And just what were PG&E's profits last year?



from http://finance.econsultant.com/pg-and-e-corp-2008-revenue-profit-2009-fortune-500-rank/

PG&E Corp. 2008 Revenue Profit 2009 Fortune 500 Rank

Name: PG&E Corp.
Website: www.pgecorp.com
2008 Revenue: $ 14,628 million
2008 Profit: $ 1,338 million
2009 Fortune 500 Rank: 176



So they had $1.338 BILLION in profits. Methinks they'd have profited themselves more if they'd spent some of it on their fucking infrastructure.



Tansy Gold, NTY

[dave29]

141. bingo

.

[Newsjock]

116. 53 homes destroyed; 120 other homes damaged

Fire is 50% contained, according to CBS5.

Confirmation (Oakland Tribune, San Jose Mercury News): http://twitter.com/insidebayarea/status/24079865912
Office of Emergency Services saying 53 homes destroyed, 120 damaged, fire 50 percent contained. #sanbrunofire

[nadinbrzezinski]

121. The local ABC station just went though the we take responsibility

for this by PG&E

[mackerel]

123. I appears there are already a lot of missing people.

A lot of long time home owners in that area, retirees.

[nadinbrzezinski]

124. I am hoping that daylight and fire out

does not bring some nasty surprises...

[mackerel]

125. PG&E is saying that they still can't get the gas turned off.

[jgraz]

126. Guy on local news is saying they have to do it house-by-house

The giant transmission line is shut off, but that's not what's supplying the homes. The PG&E guy was saying they need to dig down to the feed for each home and pinch them off individually.

[nadinbrzezinski]

127. You kid me, they did not install

emergency shut off valves!!!!!!!!

THAT IS DAMN CHEAP.... I was thinking they had an ESV Cascade Failure!

(On edit why am I thinking BP)

[Tansy_Gold]

129. BP = BOP epic fail; PG&E = ESV epic fail

When the bottom line is all important and human lives, not so much.


:sarcasm:


TG, NTY

[jgraz]

130. Well, it's not like the area is prone to natural disasters or anything...

Oh wait...

[truedelphi]

216. + 1. n/t

[Downwinder]

131. That does not sound right. They would not have high pressure

to the houses. There must be regulator with a cutoff somewhere.

[nadinbrzezinski]

136. Exactly, and if the regulator failed

Would you like to tell lawyers that?

[Downwinder]

144. Don't think it matters what you tell them,

they will just point to the hole in the ground and ask. "Is this yours?"

[nadinbrzezinski]

148. Of course and once that scene is more or less

opened, it will be crawling with all types of investigators. A few lawyers as well...

[dave29]

132. sad.

I wish I could show surprise

[haele]

146. ????? One of the biggest power companies in California -

In an area with the largest, most established technologically forward-thinking community cultures in the world are located -
And they don't have up to the date infrastructure systems?
y'know, SDG&E just installed a meter at our house that operates on communication with their main office via a local cellular network; we were one of the last ones to be installed due to medical equipment issues.
One would think that there is an easy way to send automatic shut-off signals to gas lines at the point of entry to the homes or to neighborhoods as well. Especially in a seismically vulnerable location as the Southern Bay Area. I'd be interested as to the code requirements for residential gas lines in that area, and whether or not they had been kept up with.

I've been looking at the live feed - a block full of houses with similar floorplans that are still burning, but are now pretty much cinders have these bright burning hotspots in the same area - probably where the gas lines to kitchen stove or the water heater was located.

These could be anybody's neighborhood. No matter the value of the homes, or the economic status of the residents. This should be a wake-up call to maintain infrastructure for everyone...

But hey, PG&E shareholders weren't concerned before this happened - profits are the most important focus of any large corporation, right?
The CEO culture recognizes and accepts risks to make the profits; a few shortcuts couldn't possibly hurt enough people to affect the bottom line, right?

Haele

[nadinbrzezinski]

149. Why I think their excuse smells

They most likely installed these things.

And they are just sounding like your neighborhood, fourth largest energy company... oh recently.

[CreekDog]

159. A gas main break w/o an earthquake destroys a water main, 53 homes

and sets fire to 120 more?

ridiculous.

and there should be some safety feature that doesn't allow such a cascading disaster.

the exploding gas seemed to travel into people's homes.

and all of us around here are wondering, well, don't we have all the same infrastructure? we're between 1-2 miles away.

[KamaAina]

222. The irony is, that location is a few hundred yards from the San Andreas Fault

which pretty much runs along Skyline. Yet it didn't even take a quake to cause that. Goodness only knows what would have happened had there been one! :scared:

[YvonneCa]

223. Actually, there have been several California quakes...

...in the last few months. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqscanv/

[YvonneCa]

224. Check out this one...

...http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Quakes/nc71453305.html

[KamaAina]

225. Amazingly, the blast itself registered as a 1.1

time matches exactly: 6:11 PM. :wow:

But there were no actual quakes right in the area in the last month.

[YvonneCa]

226. No, but did you notice the location ...

...of the San Andreas and San Bruno?

[Retrograde]

213. PG&E has other priorities

like spending $40M to convince the voters of the state that they should be a monopoly. Luckily, Prop. 16 failed in the June election, although it was close

[CrawlingChaos]

228. They don't give two shits about safety

I know this from personal experience - if people die, they couldn't care less, beyond what monetary expense they might incur. And they will stop at nothing to shirk responsibility.

They let a live broken power line hang over our home for 4 days without responding. It took a local news crew coming out to film our horrific situation, and only then did PG&E send out a crew. I learned my lesson. Our safety means nothing to them - we're on our own.

[Newsjock]

128. 3 dead now

http://twitter.com/insidebayarea/status/24080835133
Coroner's office confirms total of three fatalities in San Bruno explosion and fire.

[Duer 157099]

133. I think I found ground zero

Can anyone tell what this structure is?

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=skyline+and+san+bruno,+san+bruno,+ca&sll=37.600496,-122.424946&sspn=0.083371,0.172176&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Skyline+Blvd+%26+San+Bruno+Ave+W,+San+Bruno,+San+Mateo,+California+94066&ll=37.622638,-122.441678&spn=0.000469,0.000966&t=h&z=21&layer=c&cbll=37.622772,-122.441883&panoid=zqMcODRIbVMrN8CTwRXVUQ&cbp=12,67.21,,1,3.11

And right across the street, somebody has this thing on their lawn. What is it?

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=skyline+and+san+bruno,+san+bruno,+ca&sll=37.600496,-122.424946&sspn=0.083371,0.172176&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Skyline+Blvd+%26+San+Bruno+Ave+W,+San+Bruno,+San+Mateo,+California+94066&ll=37.622668,-122.441888&spn=0.000469,0.000966&t=h&z=21&layer=c&cbll=37.622578,-122.441892&panoid=9zPSz0XTKGWrivcGszRj5g&cbp=12,282.24,,1,15.08

[Newsjock]

134. All of the affected buildings are residences

Initial reports had speculated that the gas station at San Bruno/Skyline had exploded, but those reports were false. The explosion area is actually a few blocks away from the San Bruno/Skyline intersection.

[Tansy_Gold]

135. Looks like some kind of telephone thing to me

but I know nothing about this stuff.


TG, NTY

[Duer 157099]

137. Some guy from the neighborhood said that in the area of the explosion

there was an above ground pipe/valve thing. These are the only two such things I can find in that immediate area

[Tansy_Gold]

140. The other looked like a standard fire hydrant.

But again, I'm clueless about any of the technical aspects.


TG,NTY

[Duer 157099]

143. That's what I thought too, but iright on someone's lawn?

They said the explosion took out some water mains, and this is just across the street from the other structure I linked to, so they are right in the same path.

[Tansy_Gold]

152. If it's a residential neighborhood, the fire hydrants will be on someone's lawn.

I mean, where else they gonna put it? In the middle of the street?


If this works, it's a link to a fire hydrant between two driveways in the neighborhood where I used to live in AZ.


http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=2043+S.+225th+Lane,+Buckeye+AZ&sll=37.621336,-122.439795&sspn=0.015874,0.027423&gl=us&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=2043+S+225th+Ln,+Buckeye,+Maricopa,+Arizona+85326&ll=33.427582,-112.535695&spn=0,0.003428&z=18&layer=c&cbll=33.427583,-112.5359&panoid=375M3ZAY5QVqiScxlkJL8g&cbp=12,359.29,,0,23.31


TG, NTY

[CreekDog]

157. Firefighter living in that area was interviewed said big water main hit by explosion

so no water to fight the fire for half an hour.

he said all the water to fight the fire was through "shuttling" water up the hill...firetrucks filling their tanks shuttling the water uphill to the scene in a constant convoy.

[nadinbrzezinski]

138. Local media said that across the street

there was a children's playground.

[jgraz]

139. The pipe blew at Claremont and Earl, not Skyline and San Bruno.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Claremont+and+Earl,+san+bruno,+ca&sll=37.622772,-122.441883&sspn=0.000637,0.000558&g=Skyline+Blvd+%26+San+Bruno+Ave+W,+San+Bruno,+San+Mateo,+California+94066&ie=UTF8&ll=37.622774,-122.441883&spn=0.000634,0.000558&t=h&z=21

[Duer 157099]

142. The first link I put is exactly at Glenview and Earl (corrected)

It's on the East side of Glenview, just across and slightly north of Earl. It looks like it's at the entrance to a "greenbelt" type area.

[Tansy_Gold]

145. Claremont & Earl don't intersect; Glenview & Earl do.

Just for anyone who tries to find it without your link.

[Duer 157099]

147. Mea culpa, yes, I mean Glenview and Earl n/t

[CreekDog]

156. It's right near Skyline Blvd/Highway 35 and Sneath

the houses lit up like burners on a stove.

a gas main break should not blow up a neighborhood.

[Tansy_Gold]

158. Okay, wiat a minute, wait a minute, WAIT A MINUTE

If I'm reading what you wrote correctly, you're saying that it wasn't like just the main pipeline blew in one spot like in the middle of an intersection or something, but rather that there were individual gas leaks AT THE HOUSES so that they all went up at once?

TG, NTY

[CreekDog]

161. an earlier tweet said that there was an explosion which then "backfired" into all the homes

and if you look at the videos, they were burning like torches --they were getting lots of fuel so they looked like a stove burner.

[Tansy_Gold]

163. Yes, your description fits the photo posted upthread

with the immense torch in the middle and then individual structure fires around it.

I was wondering, with my total lack of professional expertise, how so many houses were so furiously burning so quickly.

Could it be -- and I'm speculating with nothing but sheer imagination here -- could it be that because of the timing at the dinner hour, that in homes where the gas was actually flowing, whether to a stove or oven, a hot water heater (after-work shower, washing dishes) or whatever, that those homes were affected and those that for whatever reason had no open gas valves didn't go?

Experts, chime in, please!


Tansy Gold, always curious

[jgraz]

172. No... the transmission line was not connected to the residential feeds

What blew was a huge pipe, used to shuttle large amounts of gas around the Bay Area. It was not used to feed individual homes.

What made the homes go up was the radiant heat. That much gas burning that quickly will put out enough infrared radiation to torch anything nearby. The individual gas fires are just a result of the houses burning to the ground with their gas feeds still on.

[Tansy_Gold]

173. Thanks for the explanation!

Those of us with vivid imaginations and no knowledge can be very dangerous! ;-)




TG

[mackerel]

160. ABC News is still saying 1 dead.

[dave29]

153. CNN International cuts away, so that American viewers can watch a re-run of Anderson Cooper

awesome work, guys.

:sarcasm:

[CreekDog]

165. CNN didn't seem to cover it at all

relatives from all over were calling and wondering. they probably only saw it on their local news (was 11pm back east in the middle of it 8pm here).

[YvonneCa]

230. Found an article on this...

...some here (including me) ;) might relate to:

http://www.mediaite.com/online/if-its-san-bruno-thats-burning-and-not-the-koran-will-the-cable-nets-notice/

[whopis01]

184. It is a firehydrant. n/t

[jgraz]

150. Some good news: just heard from a friend in that neighborhood

She's OK, and so are the 6 rescue parrots she's caring for. Whew.

[nadinbrzezinski]

151. Good news indeed

for everybody...

[dave29]

155. very good to hear

:)

[mackerel]

162. Good news!

[AsahinaKimi]

164. 53 Homes destroyed 120 homes with fire damage

One confirmed dead, according to the fire chief.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/09/BADP1FBJRS.DTL&tsp=1

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/livenow?id=6498350 live broadcast.



More coverage at 4am according KGO TV.

[CreekDog]

166. ABC7 is showing appears to be 24 inch gas transmission line

cut in half

[REP]

167. And blown to bits

They showed the crater, too. Whoa.

[CountAllVotes]

171. late night news from KGO San Francisco

picking this signal up good tonight up north here. Confirmed 4 dead now - 52 homes destroyed and 120+ damaged.

The burn unit at St. Francis hospital in San Francisco is taking patients as well as San Francisco General hospital and Kaiser So. San Francisco.

It sounds like a frantic mess - a night of horror and death.

Can anyone say INFRASTRUCTURE? PG&E admitting responsibility for this.

FYI: This is an older neighborhood in San Bruno and I doubt anything has been done to upgrade the power lines and gas lines since they were put in when the homes were built in the 1950s.

Sad, very sad indeed.

People are being taken to shelters in San Bruno and pets at Petco in the Tanforan shopping center in San Bruno.

on edit: State Lieutenant Governor Abel Maldonado, the state’s acting governor (Governor Schwarzenegger is in China), will be visiting the affected area Friday.

more info. here: http://www.californiabeat.org/2010/09/09/breaking-large-explosion-five-alarm-fire-reported-in-san-mateo-county

[Demeter]

174. Gas line explosion burns San Bruno neighborhood

Source: SFGate

With a thunderous roar heard for miles, a natural gas line explosion ripped through a San Bruno neighborhood Thursday evening, sending up a geyser of fire that killed at least one person and injured more than 20 others, and igniting a blaze that destroyed 53 homes and damaged 120 more, authorities said.

The wind-whipped blaze leaped from structure to structure in the neighborhood near Skyline Boulevard and Sneath Lane, west of Interstate 280, raging unabated for almost an hour as emergency crews rushed in and residents streamed out.

The central ball of fire, fed by the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. gas line, raged past nightfall before abating. By then, houses on several blocks and thick stands of trees were engulfed in flames.

Power was cut off to the area, and the only light came from emergency vehicles and the smoldering houses. Firefighting planes roared overhead, dumping retardant onto the blazes, and the scene took on a chaotic tone as neighbors desperately searched for help and for each other.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/09/BADP1FBJRS.DTL

---

INFRASTRUCTURE, ANYONE?

[izquierdista]

175. You know these run-down shabby neighborhoods

If people can't take pride in ownership, maybe they are not responsible enough to be homeowners. :sarcasm:

[MadMaddie]

176. Absolutely!

It also looks like some massive negligence on the Gas Companies part. They were there 3 weeks ago according to someone in the neighborhood, they came to the area and then left. They didn't tell the folks anything and apparantly the smells were so bad they were coming from the sewers. Someone needs to go to jail.

[Ineeda]

177. Infrastructure

If this was the fault of damaged, poorly maintained or not upgraded gas lines, as it seems to be, that's the responsibility of PG&E exclusively, and it's criminal, IMO. They're a multi-brazillion $$ corporation. Code inspections and regulations need to be top-notch but cities and towns have had to cut budgets and can't keep up. All costs should fall to the corporation. (Fat chance.) The infrastructure stimulus money should go to the public sector (roads, water systems, bridges, etc.) Municipalities also need the funds to bolster inspections and enforce violations.

[ret5hd]

178. The worlds entire hydrocarbon infrastructure...

every refinery, drill rig, steel pipeline, etc is plagued by a problem that is rarely discussed:
hydrogen embrittlement.

[Ineeda]

179. I believe it

and isn't that all the responsibility of the owners/corporations? Make 'em fix it all or shut 'em down. Force them to put their billions of profit into the problem. IMO, of course.

[maddezmom]

181. SAN BRUNO FIRE KILLS AT LEAST 6, DESTROYS 53 HOMES

http://cbs5.com/local/san.bruno.explosion.2.1905917.html

[Hell Hath No Fury]

183. This is incredibly sad and frightening.

I am very, very familiar with that neigborhood and the residents -- for 20+ years I have done a make-up job for a Xmas production put on by the neighborhood church. Rollingwood is as an older development full of working class people, many who have been there for decades. It is very "old school", with the feel of a pre-gentrification San Francisco -- lots of old Italian families and new Latino/Filipino/Asian families. This is going to be just devastating for San Bruno and the church. :( :cry:

[ginnyinWI]

186. I was just there beg. of August.

My son and his family moved into a house on Crosby Ct. He's 30--all the other neighbors in the cul-du-sac in their 80s so I guess he is part of the eventual renewal of the neighborhood. How devastating for all the older folks whose homes have been destroyed. According to the landlord their house is okay, having been right on the perimeter of the neighborhood.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

188. Yes, lots of old-timers --

who retired or moved to the SF suburbs when the development was first built 40+ years ago. It is a great little neighborhood, though it may be a little too quiet for your son :D -- glad to hear all is well with his house. :hi:

[CreekDog]

190. The development I'm adjacent to was built with a covenant prohibiting non-white home owners

back in the 1960's when it was built.

the beautiful irony was that the covenant was struck down (I forget the details) and the neighborhood and community is probably the most diverse and wealthy ethnic enclave in the entire United States.

growing up here, i never understood why people said the suburbs were white and intolerant, because they didn't seem to be here.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

195. I grew up in the Portola District --

of SF and it started out as a Maltese/Italian neighborhood and, in the 60s when I got there, African-Americans had started moving in and there was an exodus of people to Burlingame, San Mateo, Pacifica, and the 'burbs of Sacramento who were trying to get away from the "blacks". In fact, the person we bought our house from shockingly told us that straight up. :puke:

Some idiots alway thought they could get away from anyone "different" -- and "different" always ended up follwoing them right to their doorstep. :D

[ginnyinWI]

196. quiet, yes

But nice. They have two little kids and appreciate a safe, peaceful neighborhood. And every weekend they all pile into the car and go on a family outing--are enjoying the Bay area so much.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

200. Since he's a famliy man --

it is a good one for him then. Lots to do and see from where he is -- a really good spot to hit the wonderful coastal areas.

[CreekDog]

187. That is a very observant and insightful description of this part of the peninsula

"It is very 'old school', with the feel of a pre-gentrification San Francisco -- lots of old Italian families and new Latino/Filipino/Asian families"


Exactly right which is why the outer neighborhoods in San Francisco down through San Bruno and Pacifica have such a different feel than the more well-known areas of SF and trendy areas of the Bay Area like Palo Alto, Burlingame, Walnut Creek, Berkeley, etc.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

191. Yes!

The whole coastal strip from Richmond down past Pacifica has such a different feel -- they are remnants of the SF/Bay Area I knew as a kid. I relate MUCH more to those areas and spend most of my time there -- the tredny downtown and "hip" areas have nothing to do with my life, I simply cannot relate to them.

I'll take a Rollingwood over SoMa any time. :hi:

[CreekDog]

204. One thing that's different is the roots here are much deeper

At home there, my friends, family have been in the area for a long time.

But I come to work in downtown SF, among the professional crowd, and few I work with are *from* here.

People who don't realize they are in SF when they are standing at Mission and Geneva Sts. or are effectively lost there nonetheless.

[KamaAina]

209. Is this church taking donations?

Let us know when and if it is. :hi:

[cbdo2007]

189. This is insane - it looks like a war zone down there.

Like an entire neighborhood is just rubble in 12 hours. I have seen anything like this before in the states. Scary.

Sorry, just in shock looking at the pics and videos and trying to process all of this. I can't imagine!

[nadinbrzezinski]

197. I expected it

but then again been there, done that as an EMS provider



Mexico 1984

So far the reports of casualties are low... but I expect them to go much higher.

[Brother Buzz]

201. That bay Area has experienced this on a much larger sacle

On October 20, 1991, a small brush fire started in the hills above Oakland, California. Fanned by 70mph winds, unseasonably high temperatures and low humidity, the fire spread rapidly, burning nearly three square miles of affluent neighborhoods within the wooded hillsides. The fire ultimately killed 25 people and injured 150 others. 3,354 single-family dwellings and 437 apartment and condominium units burned.

[CreekDog]

203. The parallel might be a little different than you're thinking

The night before the Oakland Hills fire, fire crews responded and extinguished the fire.

But it kept burning beneath the surface.

They left and it flared up and by the time crews came back it was too late.

Nobody leaves a fire like that anymore. Lesson learned.

I wonder what will be the lesson from this disaster.

[cbdo2007]

212. geez, see we're sheltered here in the midwest...

this kind of stuff freaks me out and stuff like this doesn't happen here in Kansas City. I guess I'm relieved.

[EFerrari]

214. I was this close to buying one of those condos in Orinda that year.

I didn't because while the quiet was nice, the area was just too wonder bread for me, anyway. That was close. And one of my friends was scheduled to take her qualifying exams the day of the evacuation and she wound up piling her dogs into a car and driving out instead. That was a terrible fire. It looked like the place had been nuked. :(

[Xithras]

192. I just saw the stupidest woman in history on TV a few minutes ago.

She apparently owns one of the homes next to the break (or, at least, owns a bit of ash covered ground at this point). She mentioned to the reporter that she and her neighbors had been smelling gas in the area for DAYS. The reporter asked her if she'd called PG&E, and whether they'd found anything.

Her answer: "No, we never called PG&E. We just talked to the neighbors about it."

:wtf:

Who the hell smells gas around their home for DAYS and never calls the authorities?!?!?!

[cbdo2007]

193. Good grief!!

I have a very acute sense of smell for gas it seems because I can detect very small amounts, and I will even tell the manager in businesses that I'm in if I smell gas, or will call about my own house within an hour of smelling even a small amount of gas.

[Retrograde]

211. Her neighbors tried and were apparantly ignored (n/t )

[Mz Pip]

210. There was an interview with a guy

last night who said he'd smelled gas for the past 3 weeks. I got the impression he did call PG&E.

[truedelphi]

220. Oh mi gawd. And people think that Americans aren't dumbed down?

That is unebelievable. But if you say you saw it on TV?

People think my neighbors here in the sticks are dumbies and call us "hicks." But no one around here would let such a thing slide.

[YvonneCa]

199. Live ABC link...

...daytime helicopter view (horrible):

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/livenow?id=7660237

[nadinbrzezinski]

206. So far six death

I expect this to be higher...

[and-justice-for-all]

202. People smell gas for weeksm PG&E said they found 'nothing'??

and them BOOM. Next comes lawsuits against PG&E, which is a private company of course. This company ranked in millions of dollars of profit and they can not maintain their infrastructure??? MEGA FAIL.

PG&E Corp. 2008 Revenue Profit 2009 Fortune 500 Rank

Name: PG&E Corp.
Website: www.pgecorp.com
2008 Revenue: $ 14,628 million
2008 Profit: $ 1,338 million
2009 Fortune 500 Rank: 176
http://finance.econsultant.com/pg-and-e-corp-2008-revenue-profit-2009-fortune-500-rank/

in millions % change from 2007
Revenues 14,628.0 10.5
Profits 1,338.0 33.0
Assets 40,860.0 —
Stockholders' equity 9,377.0 —
Market value (3/27/2009) 14,191.6 —

Profits as % of
Revenues 9.1
Assets 3.3
Stockholders' equity 14.3

Earnings per share
2008 $ 3.63
% change from 2007 30.6
1998-2008 annual growth rate % 6.8

Total return to investors %
2008 -6.4
1998-2008 annual rate 4.3
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2009/snapshots/2031.html

Other Financial Information:
PG&E Corporation Reports 2009 Results; Reaffirms 2010, 2011 Guidance
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pge-corporation-reports-2009-results-reaffirms-2010-2011-guidance-84770492.html

PG&E Corp. profit up 7% in quarter
http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-05-08/business/20889731_1_pg-e-ebay-charity-day

PG&E recent issues:
PG&E Wants Rate Hike for Efficient Energy Users
http://missionlocal.org/2009/11/pge-wants-efficient-users-to-pay-more/

PG&E, Customers Clash Over Smart Meters:
http://www.triplepundit.com/2009/12/customers-revolt-as-smart-meters-accused-of-overbilling/

PG&E refutes suit alleging price-gouging via smart meters
http://venturebeat.com/2009/11/09/pge-refutes-suit-alleging-price-gouging-via-smart-meters/

[truedelphi]

218. This is a lesson for all humans - when you smell gas for weeks on end

Make sure and report it not to only your public or private utility - but to your local fire station as well.

And make sure the fire station investigates it.

If people had done that, the fire chief would have gotten P G & E on the ball. And this wouldn't have happened.

(I am not saying that P G & E is not liable - but if you die in such an explosion, you sure as hell cannot collect, and liability means nothing then.)

[KamaAina]

207. It's like deja vu all over again

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_large_explosion

It's not the first time a deadly explosion on a PG&E gas line has devastated a Northern California neighborhood.

On Christmas Eve 2008 an explosion killed a 72-year-old man in the Sacramento suburb of Rancho Cordova, destroyed one home and seriously damaged others.

The National Transportation Safety Board's final report said PG&E used a wrong pipe to repair the gas line two years before the explosion. Rancho Cordova residents had reported of a gas smell in the area before the blast.

In response to the NTSB's findings, the company said it had taken "extraordinary measures" to ensure a blast like that would never happen again.

[JonLP24]

208. PG&E shares fall after deadly explosion

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Shares of Pacific Gas & Electric tumbled 6% Friday after a gas pipeline in California exploded and erupted into flames.

The blast occurred in San Bruno, near San Francisco, after a gas transmission line owned by PG&E (PCG, Fortune 500) ruptured. But the cause of the rupture is still being investigated.

The explosion, which took place late Thursday, killed four people and sparked a fire that has destroyed dozens of homes.

Shares of the utility company dropped $2.91, or 6%, to $45.34 in afternoon trading Friday.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/09/10/news/companies/pge_shares_explosion/index.htm?eref=mrss_igoogle_business

[mackerel]

231. Market watch said the shares had gone down 8%