Fire

Last September, a PG&E pipeline explosion in San Bruno killed eight and left many more injured. Five years earlier, a Walnut Creek blast killed five workers and led to about 20 Contra Costa County lawsuits. GJEL partners Luke Ellis and Jim Larsen helped the family of Tae Chin Lm, a victim of the Walnut Creek pipeline explosion, recover $10.65 million. But in a report this week for the San Jose Mercury News, Ellis expresses concerns that California could see another tragic blast due to the location of dangerous liquid pipes. “There are a lot of lines where people don’t know they are near their schools or homes or hospitals,” he said. “You hit one of these things and you can have a catastrophic event.”

It’s clear that the PG&E pipeline explosion in San Bruno in September was an unfortunate mistake. But it was also an avoidable mistake that killed eight people, which led the National Transportation Safety Board Monday to suggest seven important steps the gas and electric company can make to prevent future pipeline explosions. Six of the suggestions were confidential, but the seventh, asking PG&E to verify its records, indicates little operational faith in the agency and provides a clue into the type of scrutiny likely to overtake PG&E in the coming months and years.

A San Bruno neighborhood was devastated by an uncontrollable fire last night when a PG&E pipeline exploded at 6:24 pm. The explosion, which left behind a 30-foot-wide crater, has so far killed 4 and injured more than 50 while destroying more than 30 homes. The damage has been so bad that Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado (who is acting as Governor as Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Asia) has declared a state of emergency in San Bruno.

$248,000 for a man injured while trying to put out a fire in Contra Costa County.

$3.25 million for two children burned when a smoke detector failed.