Well, another gas line infrastructure, constructed in the 1940's, exploded last night, around 6PM in San Bruno, CA., just 12 miles south of San Fran, and across from SFO. I know the area, since I had friends there, when I lived in North Beach. Convenient run to Silicon Valley from there, and an easy 20 minute commute into SF.
Here's a video of it: http://bit.ly/cQPbBg
Watching the homes and trees burn and burn last night, as it was impossible to turn off the main gas lines, with 56 houses exploded and another 125 burning, along with cars, and probably bodies still inside, I wondered about my own gas lines running to this house.
How long ago were they originally built and when was the last time I had a Utilities Inspector, from Puget Sound Energy, out to check my furnace and connections? Never.
A friend sent me a home video, made of the start of the fire, from about 3 blocks away, and up the hill from it. On the video they were talking about the natural gas smell, that some residents had been complaining about for 3 (THREE) weeks, prior to tonight.
Seems a number of folks in the area had complained to the gas company, and the techs who came out to inspect told them to close their windows and keep their garage doors closed. Huh?
Leaking gas in a neighborhood for 3 weeks, and that is the advice they give?
Hmm, what a dangerous and stupid line to take, as I watched the fiery inferno tonight.
One man said he was at the gas station, about 3 blocks away, and the blast was so powerful, the heat from it burned his face, inside his car, and his body felt as if it was about to melt. He raced toward the explosion, as his sister was at a home nearby, and 3 women were running down the street with smoke and flesh falling off their bodies.
He got his sister, put the women in the car and raced to the fire station, for a medic. Then he went back to the neighborhood, as more houses exploded, to help other people who were wandering the street in shock, some with broken arms, faces burned, flesh on fire.
Pandemonium continued as 56 houses imploded from the super fire, of the massive gas line explosions. Explosions--not one, but a number of explosions, could be heard during the night.
Later this morning, if the gas has been burned off, if they can get the gas lines shut down, the rescue teams may be able to enter the homes which hold the dead. I doubt it, since the gas smell was in the air, 2 miles away, tonight. People were telling about how they were knocked to the floor, in shops and home, nearby, when the first explosion blew apart the homes around it.
I am sad that this happened on my birthday. I am happy, though, I did not fly into San Francisco, today. I wanted to go there to celebrate, however, it just didn't feel right. My thanks went up to the big guy upstairs that my sister and nephew returned from SF, last week, after a few days of mother-son bonding before he returns to college.
So, be grateful you are safe, and if you have gas coming into your home, call the gas company and have them take a sniff around, check the lines, and give you peace of mind, because we will be turning it on, as soon as the thermometer gets down into the 50's, soon.
If you have some extra money, donate a few dollars, if there is a fund set up, to help all these people, who are living in shelters, or donate it to the Red Cross, and if you are one of my dear friends down there, and you TYPE-O blood, then donate because they are asking for it now. So you know there is going to be a lot of hurt and maimed people.
All schools are cancelled in San Bruno for tomorrow, there is no electricity, no phones, computers, cars, since people ran with the clothes on their backs, as the fire spread and spread.
For those of you who are animal lovers, and many of those pets are now incinerated, the ones that survived have been offered free room and board and food at Petco in San Bruno. So, I will applaud that company for their kindness.
May your day be peaceful and pray for those who died, and those who have lost all they had in a moment. It is another example to be grateful for all that you have and make sure you are on the right path, as sometimes tomorrow does not arrive.
In Lakech and Namaste!
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