The Latest: California home gas blast kills 1, injures 15
MURRIETA, Calif. (AP) — The Latest on an explosion that destroyed a home in Southern California (all times local):
7: 30 p.m.
Authorities say everyone has been accounted for after a natural gas explosion that blew apart a Southern California home and killed a gas company worker.
The blast shortly after noon Monday occurred in Murrieta in Riverside County, east of Los Angeles.
Authorities say a contractor who hadn’t called Southern California Gas to determine where gas lines were buried struck and damaged a line.
An explosion an hour later turned the home into charred sticks and sent up a column of fire and smoke.
SoCalGas and Murrieta Deputy Fire Chief David Lantzer say 15 people were injured, including three firefighters, and a SoCalGas worker died.
There’s no word on the conditions of the injured.
SoCalGas initially said a resident may have been unaccounted for.
___
3:30 p.m.
Authorities say a gas explosion that destroyed a Southern California home has killed one person and injured more than a dozen others.
The explosion occurred shortly after noon Monday in Murrieta in Riverside County.
The Southern California Gas Co. says it sent a crew to the home after a contractor damaged a gas line.
Murrieta Deputy Fire Chief David Lantzer says firefighters had been called to the home about an hour before the blast. He says 15 people were injured, but he didn’t have their conditions.
SoCalGas says one of its workers was killed and another was sent to the hospital. The company also says a resident of the home may be unaccounted for.
The blast sent up a wall of flames and heavy smoke before crews stopped the gas flow and doused the fire.
____
2:45 p.m.
The Southern California Gas Company says one of its workers was killed and another was injured in a gas explosion that destroyed a home.
SoCal Gas says in a statement that an occupant of the home may be unaccounted for following the blast Monday in Murrieta, in Riverside County.
The company says crews responded initially to reports of a natural gas line that was damaged by a contractor working in the area.
The explosion happened around noon. Crews stopped the flow of gas to the property an hour later.
The blast destroyed the home and sent up a wall of flames and heavy smoke.
The extent of the worker’s injuries isn’t immediately known.
Authorities are planning an afternoon briefing to provide additional details.
___
2:17 p.m.
An explosion has destroyed a house in a Southern California neighborhood, sending up thick flames and closing several streets.
Police say it’s unclear if anyone was injured in the blast Monday in Murrieta, in Riverside County.
Video posted to social media show a home on a residential block engulfed in flames. A thick plume of dark smoke was visible for miles around.
Authorities are planning an afternoon briefing to provide additional details.
