At least six people were injured this afternoon - three of them critically - by a residential explosion on Paiute Way between Kachina and Calle del Sol ways, officials said.
A Sacramento Metro Fire spokesman said a Pacific Gas & Electric crew was on scene at the time of the explosion and that one PG&E worker was injured.
At least three people suffered third-degree burns, according to police. At least one of the injured had been inside the home at 10708 Paiute Way at the time of the explosion.
One firefighter was injured and was being given oxygen as he was loaded into an ambulance at the scene.
Sheriff John McGinness said paramedics told him on the scene that all injuries appeared to be "survivable."
The blast happened around 1:40 p.m. One home was destroyed and two others were damaged, said Capt. Christian Pebbles, spokesman for the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District.
Spot fires can be seen on nearby roofs, and broken glass was strewn as far as 25 yards from the scene of the explosion.
At least one worker was on scene when the explosion occurred, said PG&E spokesman Brian Swanson.
"Our main priority now is to make the scene safe," Swanson said. "It's hard to say what happened at this point."
Swanson said PG&E will be launching an investigation into the cause of the explosion with fire and law enforcement departments.
A voluntary evacuation noticed was served at 10 homes in each direction from the scene of the explosion, said sheriff's Capt. Scott Jones. Most decided to stay in their homes or go to a neighbor's. An evacuation center has been set up at White Rock Elementary School, but Jones said few families appeared to be taking advantage of it.
Paiute Way resident John Turner said he was sitting in his duplex when he heard what he described as a big "boom."
"I felt my whole house shake," said Turner, 30. "The ceiling fans kinda jumped and rattled a bit."
The impact was so jarring - "It was quite dramatic," Turner said -- that he checked the rooms of his duplex to make sure nothing exploded inside. Then he went next door to make sure his neighbors were alright.
Other neighbors began pouring out of their homes and looking down the street. That's when Turner saw flames and smoke billowing out of a home about a block and a half from his duplex.
He said he also saw two Pacific Gas & Electric trucks parked by that house.
As Turner spoke to The Bee via telephone minutes after the explosion, sirens wailed in the background. He said he saw at least four firetrucks on the scene at that time, and two ambulances.
Joe DeAvila, who was visiting his son on Paiute Way, estimated that the explosion had the force of a 500-pound bomb.
"I was in Vietnam," he said. "I know what they sound like."
DeAvila said when he went out to look, he saw a dazed-appearing woman leaving the site, and PG&E trucks on the scene.
"There were a lot of looky-loos. Eventually the police came and cleared 'em out," he said.
At the temporary evacuation center at White Rock School, a police car pulled up carrying Gigi Lopez, 50, and her mother, Lucy Lopez, 76. Gigi, who was weeping, was wearing a bath robe, pajamas and socks. Lucy was wrapped in a blanket and suffered a bruise on her forehead. Both were shivering.
They were at home baking cookies for Christmas when the explosion occurred. Lucy went to lie down for a rest. The explosion threw her off her bed and she was struck by something in the head. Lucy was out back in the house.
They live next door to the explosion site.
Gigi Lopez said she saw her neighbor - whose house exploded - and another neighbor thrown by the force.
"I saw her fly through the air onto the ground," Gigi Lopez said.
Lopez said her neighbors called PG&E last night about a gas smell on the street.
"Nobody did nothing about it until this morning, and it was too late," Gigi Lopez said.
Source: http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/1497801.html
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