See all coverage of the San Bruno fire on this page
Elsewhere: Four confirmed dead in San Bruno explosion and fire [Chron], Gas line explosion/PG&E caused? [IndyBay]
99:27 AM (BCN): Two vehicles from the San Francisco Fire Department were still assisting the ongoing firefight this morning at the scene of the San Bruno explosion and fire, according to a fire department spokeswoman.
The fire department still has one California Emergency Management Agency vehicle and one fuel truck at the scene of an explosion that destroyed dozens of homes and killed at least four people in San Bruno Thursday night, San Francisco fire Lt. Mindy Talmadge said.
Talmadge said the department originally dispatched an entire first-alarm assignment – which includes three fire engines, one truck, a battalion chief, a division chief, and a heavy rescue squad – at 6:52 p.m. to fight the inferno, which started at about 6:15 p.m.
Three engines and a chief officer were also dispatched from the San Francisco International Airport fire division, Talmadge said.
A “hose tender” rig carrying up to 5,000 feet of hose was also dispatched to the scene of the blaze at San Bruno Avenue and Skyline Boulevard, but it was never used, Talmadge said.
Though she couldn’t confirm why the hose was never used, Talmadge said it might have been related to a compromised water main that made firefighting difficult over the course of the evening for all responding units.
“It seems like they had a lot of hose down there but couldn’t use it,” she said. “That’s so frustrating.”
Units from San Francisco began to be released at 7:40 p.m., Talmadge said. Most of the engines had been released from the disaster by the time the Cal-EMA vehicle was called for at 12:50 a.m., she said.
One San Francisco battalion chief was at the scene until 4:10 a.m., Talmadge said.
Nine cities in San Mateo County also dispatched vehicles to assist in the six-alarm fire, which sent flames as high as 80 feet through the ravaged residential neighborhood.
The ongoing fire was 75 percent contained as of this morning.
9:02 AM (BCN): The city of San Bruno is advising people affected by Thursday evening’s explosion and fire to check in with the American Red Cross Safe and Well program to let family and friends know they are safe.
To register for the program, go to https://safeandwell.communityos.org/cms. People trying to locate family members or other loved ones can also use the website to see if they have checked in.
People without Internet service can call the San Bruno Parks and Recreation Department at (650) 616-7180 to check in, and a city employee will pass the information along to the Red Cross.
8:55 AM: In a brief interview with KTVU, Lt. Gov (who’s the acting Gov while Schwarzenegger’s in Asia) Abel Maldonado was asked about the many media reports that 6 people were confirmed dead, instead of the four reported by the San Bruno coroner and at this morning’s press conference. While acknowledging that the current number could grow (as much as none of us want it to), Maldonado insisted the number dead at this time remained four.
8:30 AM: OK, the press conference is over. I’m sure Bay City News will do a lengthier report from the scene (and we’ll publish it when they do), but here’s the quick and dirty:
— 15 acres were burned in the fire
— 75% of the fire’s contained
— 38 structures completely destroyed
— 4 killed, but they suspect that number will grow as search and rescue continues
— 52 people were injured seriously enough to be hospitalized, including 4 firefighters who suffered smoke inhalation
8 AM: State, local, and relief officials are holding a press conference, more updates once it concludes.
7:38 AM (BCN): There are now four confirmed deaths due to the explosion and six-alarm fire caused by a ruptured gas transmission line in San Bruno Thursday evening, a San Mateo County coroner’s deputy said this morning.
The number currently stands at four, “but I’m sure it could change throughout the day,” said Kristine Gamble, a senior deputy coroner.
Gamble said investigators with the coroner’s office will be accompanying search and recovery teams who will be going through the site of the explosion and fire today.
The fire has destroyed at least 53 homes and damaged at least 120 more, according to Cal Fire.
