PG&E gas line ruptures in San Francisco, setting off explosion and fire spout

A private contractor’s construction crew had been working on a fiber-optic cable when a San Francisco gas line ruptured, setting off a gas-fuelled blast and fire spout.

While no one was injured in the Feb. 6 accident, four buildings were destroyed and it took PG&E crews about two hours to choke off the flames

Firefighters responded to reports of the explosion and fire near a construction site in the 3300 block of Geary Boulevard at Parker Avenue.

The first call from San Francisco fire dispatchers to firefighters described a “gas rupture,” with “possibly something burning,” the Enterprise-Record reported. About two minutes later, a firefighter reported to dispatch seeing flames shooting skyward from about six blocks away on Masonic Avenue.

Responding firefighters ensured  the area was evacuated and set up water lines on the fires, but the flames could not be controlled until the gas line feeding the fire was choked off.

PG&E in a tweet that the “(f)low of gas was stopped at 3:36 p.m. after a third-party construction crew – unaffiliated with PG&E – struck a gas distribution pipeline.”