PG&E is trying to figure out what caused a gas explosion in San Francisco's Bernal Heights. No one was hurt in the blast, but the explosion ripped through a Bernal Heights apartment building and caused major damage.
It happened around 10am on the 3900 block of Mission Street.
Carmen Godoy lives in the building. She wasn't home at the time of the explosion, but when she returned to the neighborhood she feared the worst. "My son was inside and I say, 'My son, maybe he's dead. I don't know,'" said Godoy.
Her son is deaf and so he didn't hear the blast, but he felt the building shake.
The explosion blew out the windows and the garage door.
The leak is believed to have come from under the street.
It took PG&E crews three hours to cap off the gas lines from both ends.
"This was a tedious task that included turning off two valves at an off site location as well as digging up these holes behind me," said Andrea Mennitti, a spokesperson for PG&E.
Nearly 500 people have been without service for much of the day and at least a hundred are expected to be without gas until Tuesday as PG&E investigates the pipe.
The company has hired a third party to help them figure out what caused the leak.
In the meantime, the Godoy family is without a home, but tonight they're thankful to God that everyone's safe.
They believe a wooden box with a picture of Jesus Christ remained hanging inside their apartment for a reason.
"It's still there. The windows exploded, but I think that's a miracle," said Elizabeth Godoy.
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By Bay City News
November 27, 2017
UPDATE 3:44 P.M.:
A gas leak that caused an explosion in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights neighborhood Monday morning has been resolved and evacuated residents are being allowed to return to the area, according to fire officials.
The gas leak was reported shortly before 10 a.m. when firefighters were called to the 3900 block of Mission Street near St. Mary’s Avenue to investigate a gas odor in the area, according to fire officials.
At 10:14 a.m., an explosion occurred in the lower floors of 3987 Mission St., a three-story residential building, causing moderate damage to the home and blowing out its front windows.
No one was inside the building and no injuries were reported.
Firefighters evacuated 19 addresses on Mission Street, College Terrace and Bosworth Street. An evacuation center was opened this afternoon at the YMCA’s Mission branch for those displaced.
PG&E workers arrived on scene around 10:30 a.m. and had stopped the flow of gas as of shortly after 1 p.m.
Fire officials said the leak appears to have been outside on the street in front of the building and it is unclear how the gas got inside.
The 14-Mission and 49-Van Ness/Mission buses were rerouted around the area during the incident, according to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.