Fire officials: Home explosion in Santa Maria caused by open natural gas outlet

Table Of Content

• now signed up to receive the Headlines Newsletter.
• Daly City explosion appears to be accidental, police say
• Bodies found inside and outside Palmdale house; deaths of 4 men under investigation
• Officials suspect the cause of the home explosion may have been a gas leak
• Weather helps firefighters increase Alisal fire containment to 80%, shift efforts to damage repair
• Central Coast neighborhood decimated by explosion which destroyed one home, damaged about 10 others
• Serena Guentz, Noozhawk Staff Writer

Lippman said she can't speak highly enough about the police and fire personnel, and representatives from SoCal Gas who responded. Windows of residences close to a house that exploded Wednesday afternoon are boarded up Thursday morning. Shortly after 12 p.m., a 911 caller reported a possible explosion inside a home in the 1200 block of Jackie Lane. Officers arrived at the scene and found a residence engulfed in flames, according to the Santa Maira Police Department. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. “It's really too early to say exactly what happened because we don’t know.

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Firefighting in the Santa Maria Valley: Crews, stations, sirens added over years to keep city safe - Santa Maria Times

Firefighting in the Santa Maria Valley: Crews, stations, sirens added over years to keep city safe.

Posted: Sun, 13 Feb 2022 08:00:00 GMT [source]

On Wednesday, the city said about 10 homes had windows blasted out by the explosion. Santa Barbara County Fire also provided a search dog to help clear the incident and allowed Santa Maria officials to move forward in their investigation process. Santa Maria city officials red-tagged eight homes as uninhabitable, meaning the structure was compromised or the gas was still turned off, Dandridge said. The Red Cross was called out to support the displaced families, and 15 other homes were green-tagged, meaning they sustained minimal damage but were deemed safe to enter. Windows were boarded up and notices were tacked to door frames identifying some homes as uninhabitable Thursday morning near the site of an explosion  that destroyed a Santa Maria home and injured four people.

Daly City explosion appears to be accidental, police say

First responders assembled searched teams and entered homes, searching for and extracting residents. Responders extricated a woman from inside the home that was destroyed. Another person was extricated from an adjacent home, while two other individuals were extricated from a house behind the one that exploded. Some of the neighboring homes were red tagged as unsafe for occupancy.

Bodies found inside and outside Palmdale house; deaths of 4 men under investigation

Dozens of windows in neighboring homes that were shattered by the explosion have been boarded up.The investigation into the official cause of the blast is expected to take several days. Joyce Lippman, also a resident of Hancock Village, said fortunately the damage to her house was minimal. Lippman said she was in the middle of a Zoom training meeting when the explosion occurred. Nearly two dozen other houses were damaged in the explosion, some severely, including a few with red tags — deemed unsafe to occupy. Officials are still calculating damage estimates for the remaining 22 homes. The city of Santa Maria thanks everyone who contributed to the aid effort in the aftermath of the explosion.

It had $75,000 worth of destroyed or damaged belongings. At one point, a search dog was used to comb through the wreckage for additional victims, but it was determined there was no one else inside. The home in the 1200 block of Jackie Lane was rocked by an explosion just after noon Wednesday.

There’s debris for hundreds of feet around the blast site. According to Police Lt. Paul Van Meel, it's too early to say exactly what caused the explosion. The evacuated area did not extend to Allan Hancock College, and there was no threat to the Santa Maria campus, but people reported feeling the blast blocks away. As the scene unfolded, Police asked people to stay out of the area of E. The extent of their injuries, or whether there are any fatalities as a result of the explosion, was not available Wednesday. A Santa Maria firefighter surveys the damage from an explosion in the 1200 block of Jackie Lane inside Hancock Village Wednesday afternoon.

Weather helps firefighters increase Alisal fire containment to 80%, shift efforts to damage repair

The sheriff's office confirms the explosions and says there have been at least six of them in the last month. May is National Bike Month, with multiple local events planned to explore the positive impact of bicycle travel for pedestrians, bicyclists and even motorists looking to curb their car and find a new way to travel. Two individuals died and 11 residents were displaced because of a house fire near Santa Maria Sunday night. Santa Maria police were asking the community to stay out of the area of E Estes Drive near Hancock and use alternative routes.

It’s an unfortunate situation, but I’m proud of the way my fire department performed,” Dandridge added. "First, I thought it was an earthquake, and then it was just a huge explosion and you know, things were falling off the walls, the blinds were rattling. Our two windows at the front were blown out," said neighbor Linda Brock. The cause of the explosion and fire was unknown and under investigation. For the latest news in Santa Barbara County — delivered right to your inbox. More information will be provided as updates come into the newsroom. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation.

Lightning likely struck half-million-dollar homes, smoldered for hours before flames erupted overnight - WBRZ

Lightning likely struck half-million-dollar homes, smoldered for hours before flames erupted overnight.

Posted: Thu, 31 Mar 2022 08:42:22 GMT [source]

Serena Guentz, Noozhawk Staff Writer

Santa Maria Fire Chief Brad Dandridge has never seen anything like the Aug. 23 house explosion before. Officials say Santa Barbara County is providing an excavator and a search dog to search for any remaining victims in the rubble. After the incident and into Wednesday evening, people were asked to avoid East Estes Drive while fire and police officials searched the area and investigated the blast. The property at 1223 Jackie Lane sustained an estimated $425,000 in structural damage.

Preliminary estimates indicate $440,000 of damage occurred to the structure at 1219 Jackie Lane. Additionally, $100,000 worth of belongings at the home were damaged or destroyed. SoCal Gas also responded to the scene, and the cause of the explosion is under investigation. Santa Barbara County is providing an excavator and a search dog. A house in the 1200 block of Jackie Lane was reduced to rubble in an explosion Wednesday afternoon.

Crews are currently mopping up the scene and trying to turn off the main gas line. The explosion and fire destroyed the home to the ground, as seen from the area. SANTA MARIA, Calif. – First responders are currently on the scene of an explosion turned to fire from an apartment condominium near Hancock Park, according to the News Channel 3-12 crew on scene. “I’ve had 17 years of experience in the fire service, but I’ve never seen something like this,” Dandridge said as he described the destruction in the neighborhood. “So this is part of a wall, and part of the garage door from the house,” said Santa Maria Fire Chief Brad Dandridge. A stucco wall from the gutted house is on the ground, after being thrown about 100 feet.

Officials determined 24 homes, including the destroyed one, sustained damage. The damage ranged from total loss to minor issues, such as broken windows. The house at 1223 Jackie Lane, located next door to the one that exploded, sustained heavy damage, affecting about 75% of the structure. The City Fire Marshal determined the origin of the explosion was in 1219 Jackie Lane home’s kitchen. The cause was an open natural gas outlet with multiple identified sources of ignition capable of igniting the natural gas, according to van de Kamp. The Santa Maria Police Department reports that when its officers arrived at the scene the home was on fire.

This is very much in progress right now but we are out there with fire, what could ultimately be a gas leak, but like I said, I'm not sure yet,” said Van Meel early Wednesday afternoon. A home in central Santa Maria burns after a reported gas explosion Wednesday afternoon. Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.

The two fire departments are among 55 agencies, departments and community groups that will receive a total of $680,000 in grants from the Fire Foundation, the spokesman said. The Marin County Sheriff's Office says one of the most recent booms came last Sunday around 10 p.m. A deputy who was nearby found evidence that someone had lit some type of unknown device that damaged a large tree in the area. The residents displaced by the blaze have found temporary shelter. Fire personnel are investigating the cause of the blaze.

Two men were found dead near the clubhouse area of Casa Grande Mobile Estates in coastal Santa Maria. Authorities say four people are dead in a shooting and explosion at a Central California mobile home park. The Santa Barbara County Fire Department is a progressive, multi-mission public safety agency with a rich tradition and history. We stand ready to serve the people of this world-renowned area with professionalism, dedication, and pride. From the pristine beaches of the South Coast to the bucolic farmlands and vineyards in the North County, we are always here to answer the call. While the explosions have been heard in San Geronimo Valley, deputies say at least one of the originating spots was not near homes.

Chaparral is the fuel that makes Santa Barbara County wildfires so dangerous and difficult to control. It most areas of the county, it makes up one arm of wildfire's triangle of ingredients — fuels, weather and topography. As the Whittier Fire raged up the slopes of the Santa Ynez Mountains, 30 young campers and 12 staff members escaped from Circle V Ranch Camp along the dirt access road to Highway 154. But in the blink of an eye, 83 people, including 56 campers, were trapped by a wall of flame. Santa Barbara County Fire Department staffing was increased even before the excessive heat and red flag warnings were issued Monday by the National Weather Service office in Oxnard, Fire Chief Mark Hartwig said Tuesday. There was no immediate word on a motive for the shooting or the cause of the explosion.