[MightyMasc]

Gas blast near San Francisco kills 1



Flames rise as a neighborhood burns following a natural gas explosion in San Bruno, California September 9, 2010.

By Jim Christie
SAN FRANCISCO | Fri Sep 10, 2010 7:22am EDT

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A fiery natural gas explosion ripped through a residential neighborhood in a San Francisco suburb on Thursday, ravaging some 50 homes and killing at least one person, officials said.

As many as 22 people were injured by the blast and flames in San Bruno, a few miles from the San Francisco International Airport, and were taken to local hospitals and burn treatment centers. The local coroner's office reported one fatality.

"We have confirmed 53 structures have been severely damaged, 120 more have fire damage," San Bruno Fire Department Chief Dennis Haag told a news conference. Most of the burned buildings were homes in the densely populated residential area, officials said. Television footage showed a massive fireball and flames shooting skywards.

Area residents said they first thought the blast's loud boom was the result of an earthquake or an airplane crash. The gas line belongs to the northern California utility Pacific Gas & Electric Co, the company said in a statement. "Though a cause has yet to be determined, we know that a PG&E gas transmission line was ruptured.

If it is ultimately determined that we were responsible for the cause of the incident, we will take accountability," the statement said. The explosion of the high-pressure gas line came at rush hour around 6 p.m. local time (0100 GMT on Friday) and flames spread quickly due to high winds. Television footage showed a massive fireball and flames shooting skywards.

Area residents said they first thought the blast's loud boom was the result of an earthquake or an airplane crash. Water-dropping aircraft assisted 150 to 200 firefighters on the ground, whose work was made more difficult by the intense heat and broken water lines. "The fire is being contained at this point ... it is around 50 percent contained," Haag said.

About 100 people were spending the night at an evacuation center, he said. California Lieutenant Governor Abel Maldonado, serving as acting governor while Arnold Schwarzenegger is on a trade mission to Asia, declared a state of emergency to free up state assistance for local government.

(Editing by Mary Milliken and Eric Walsh)