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Homes ablaze near San Francisco
At least one person was killed and dozens injured in an explosion and fire near San Francisco.
The blast tore through a neighbourhood in San Bruno, engulfing dozens of houses and vehicles. It shattered water lines, hindering firefighting efforts.
The Los Angeles Times quoted officials as saying six were killed.
Officials said a natural gas line had ruptured near the scene leaving a vast crater, but the origin of the explosion remained unconfirmed.
"I thought a 747 had landed on us," San Bruno Fire Capt Charlie Barringer told the Los Angeles Times newspaper. "It shook our station right to its foundation."
Cpt Barringer said he expected the death toll to rise as daylight allowed firefighters to search more destroyed houses.
San Bruno is a town of about 41,000 people near San Francisco International Airport.
The explosion was heard for miles, and witnesses said it blew a fireball 1,000 feet into the air.
San Bruno Fire Chief Dennis Haag said: "It looked like a broken gas line, high pressure gas line".
Christopher Johns, president of Pacific Gas and Electric, said the company would co-operate with investigators but emphasised the cause of the fire had yet to be determined.
Near the height of the fire, between 150 and 200 fire fighters were on the scene battling the blaze.
Mr Haag said 53 homes had been severely damaged, with as many as 120 homes suffering some fire damage.
Victims suffering serious burns began arriving in San Francisco area hospitals shortly after the explosion.
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Homes ablaze near San Francisco
At least one person was killed and dozens injured in an explosion and fire near San Francisco.
The blast tore through a neighbourhood in San Bruno, engulfing dozens of houses and vehicles. It shattered water lines, hindering firefighting efforts.
The Los Angeles Times quoted officials as saying six were killed.
Officials said a natural gas line had ruptured near the scene leaving a vast crater, but the origin of the explosion remained unconfirmed.
"I thought a 747 had landed on us," San Bruno Fire Capt Charlie Barringer told the Los Angeles Times newspaper. "It shook our station right to its foundation."
Cpt Barringer said he expected the death toll to rise as daylight allowed firefighters to search more destroyed houses.
San Bruno is a town of about 41,000 people near San Francisco International Airport.
The explosion was heard for miles, and witnesses said it blew a fireball 1,000 feet into the air.
San Bruno Fire Chief Dennis Haag said: "It looked like a broken gas line, high pressure gas line".
Christopher Johns, president of Pacific Gas and Electric, said the company would co-operate with investigators but emphasised the cause of the fire had yet to be determined.
Near the height of the fire, between 150 and 200 fire fighters were on the scene battling the blaze.
Mr Haag said 53 homes had been severely damaged, with as many as 120 homes suffering some fire damage.
Victims suffering serious burns began arriving in San Francisco area hospitals shortly after the explosion.
Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or 0044 7725 100 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.
Read the terms and conditions
At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws. In most cases a selection of your comments will be published, displaying your name and location unless you state otherwise in the box below. If you wish to remain anonymous, please say so in the box.
This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.