Federal investigators say Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) crews made a series of critical mistakes before a gas explosion in Hayward sent six people to the hospital with serious injuries. According to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board, PG&E workers arrived at the scene of the leak about 20 minutes after being notified and attempted to contact residents through multiple door knocks, but no one responded.
The crew then turned away firefighters who were responding to the leak, believing that utility crews could handle the situation on their own. Just over an hour later, a PG&E worker "squeezed off" the main gas line, stopping flow in the area, but failing to alert everyone inside nearby homes. Moments later, the home at 867 East Lewelling Boulevard exploded, causing widespread damage and sending multiple people to the hospital.
Critics say that the utility's actions raise serious questions about whether local authorities and PG&E took adequate steps to keep residents safe before the blast. An evacuation order was never issued, despite multiple people being inside the home when it exploded. The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the cause of the explosion and has not yet released its findings.
This incident highlights ongoing concerns about gas safety in California, particularly after a series of high-profile incidents involving PG&E. In recent years, the utility company has been fined millions of dollars for violating state and federal safety regulations, including $1.6 million after an employee failed to follow proper procedure for cleaning a pipeline.
The crew then turned away firefighters who were responding to the leak, believing that utility crews could handle the situation on their own. Just over an hour later, a PG&E worker "squeezed off" the main gas line, stopping flow in the area, but failing to alert everyone inside nearby homes. Moments later, the home at 867 East Lewelling Boulevard exploded, causing widespread damage and sending multiple people to the hospital.
Critics say that the utility's actions raise serious questions about whether local authorities and PG&E took adequate steps to keep residents safe before the blast. An evacuation order was never issued, despite multiple people being inside the home when it exploded. The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the cause of the explosion and has not yet released its findings.
This incident highlights ongoing concerns about gas safety in California, particularly after a series of high-profile incidents involving PG&E. In recent years, the utility company has been fined millions of dollars for violating state and federal safety regulations, including $1.6 million after an employee failed to follow proper procedure for cleaning a pipeline.
they're literally doing everything wrong. like they show up 20 mins late and try to contact people through door knocks? and then they turn away firefighters? whoa that's so not how you handle an emergency situation! 
and the fact that no one got evacuated from that house before it exploded is just insane... like, what were they thinking?!? 
anyway, this is def another reason why we need to be super vigilant about gas safety in california. these things gotta get taken seriously or else lives are gonna keep getting lost 
my heart goes out to those who got hurt in that explosion, it's just so devastating 
... i feel like pg&e is not doing enough to keep people safe, they're just prioritizing their own work over everyone else's safety 
. and what's even more frustrating is that the crew turned away firefighters who were trying to help 
. how could they make such a critical mistake? 
... it's just not acceptable that no one was evacuated before the explosion happened, people should have been aware of the danger and kept safe 
.
. I mean, what were they thinking? Did they really think their own crew could handle a situation involving multiple people inside a home? It's not like this is something you can just mess around with, it's literally life and death stuff 
.
It's not like this is an isolated incident either... PG&E has been fined millions of dollars for these kinds of issues in the past. We need real change here.
. Why not err on the side of caution and evacuate the area until help arrives? 
It's just common sense! 
. I'm all for holding them accountable, but at the same time, we need to make sure they're actually following the rules 
meanwhile ppl inside those homes are literally waiting 2 breathe 
an evacuation order? lol dont believe it for a sec 
.
if they knew residents were inside when the gas leak happened, shouldn't someone have alerted them ASAP? 
anyway, it's just another example of PG&E's safety record being sketchy 
? they're literally trying to solve a leak on their own without consulting the emergency services first? that's just crazy talk! and meanwhile, people are trapped in their homes with no idea what's going on. it's all about corporate priorities over public safety, you know? 
And then they just "squeezed off" the main gas line like it was nothing?! That's not safety, that's just reckless abandon! 
anyway back to pg&e - can you believe those crews just left firefighters standing outside? like what were they thinking?! 
And then they try to handle it on their own without alerting firefighters or evacuation orders? It's like they think they're some kind of superheroes or something 
. The fact that multiple people were inside the house when it exploded is just insane. 
no evacuation order was issued despite people being inside a home when it exploded? that's straight-up negligence. and all these fines they've been getting for violating safety regulations... its like they're just playing with fire 