touched off an unknown gas leak....
which disturbed that major fault line...
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Posted on 09/09/2010 7:01:08 PM PDT by SFC Chromey
A plane just crashed near SFO in San Bruno, CA. Prayers to all affected.
I see that pic and I think of that scene from “The Birds” after the explosion at the gas station.
Uh, How 'bout just shutting it off?
http://sfappeal.com/news/2010/09/huge-fire-rages-in-san-bruno.php
NEWS
“Huge Fire Rages In San Bruno, Might Be A Broken Gas Main”
Of course, the fire dept will know which gas co to call..thanks for the info.
Some guesses...
1. Pipeline corrosion is a possibility — thins the walls of the pipe. Then an overpressure event causes the pipe to let go. Happens a lot.
2. A construction crew hit it with heavy equipment. Happens a lot, too.
3. A fiberoptic horizontal drill went into the gas pipe. Common.
4. Terrorism. A lot of that going around, too.
I wonder if just abruptly "shutting it off" allows the fire to follow the gas back into the gas line, furthering the amount of damage, vs. letting the fire burn at the point of the leak.
Seriously, prayers up for those involved.
Natural gas explosionl. Going to five alarms. Something about avoid assistance but did not understand that comment on the scanner.
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Since the pipeline is probably high-pressure, even after the gas is shut off it will continue to flow from the leak until the pressure equalizes with the atmosphere.
5 ALARM FIRE (Per radio/Fire)
#
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39089768/ns/us_news/
“Homes ablaze after explosion near San Francisco
Gas line rupture possible cause of San Bruno fire”
NBC News
Homes burn Thursday evening in San Bruno, Calif.
msnbc.com news services
updated 7 minutes ago
SNIPPET: “SAN BRUNO, Calif. — A massive fire possibly caused by a ruptured gas line roared through a mostly residential neighborhood in the San Francisco suburb of San Bruno.”
Since the pipeline is probably high-pressure, even after the gas is shut off it will continue to flow from the leak until the pressure equalizes with the atmosphere.
In that area, it could be a geological fault slip. But USGS hasn’t reported an earthquake along that fault.
I think that’s so smart!
If a gas main,I would guess it to be a lot bigger than the two inch line that typically run through a neighborhood.
Prayers.
Unbelievable....fire is spreading now, everyone pray hard!
Hopefully most are out of their homes by now.
A 48” gas main blew up in Edison, New Jersey about 15 years ago. It turned out some idiot borrowed a backhoe to bury a pickup truck as part of an insurance scam, and nicked the gas main. He did not rupture it, and buried the truck. A few years later, corrosion set in on the weakened pipe and it blew up half an apartment complex.
Just heard on scanner it is a natural gas explosions. Evacuating additional neighborhoods.
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