One Confirmed- Others Feared Dead in Massive Gas Main Explosion in South San Francisco Suburb

Fires in and around American cities this week have taken out hundreds of structures and entire neighborhoods in Detroit MI and Boulder CO..

The latest fire disaster is a conflagration in California.

Around 8:15 p.m. Kansas City time Thursday evening- a possibly 24-inch underground natural gas pipeline in a suburban-type neighborhood ruptured in San Bruno California.

The violent explosion that reportedly left a crater 15 feet deep and 25 feet wide- broke a water main as it shot pavement-debris and natural gas under high pressure upward and outward- with the gas catching fire almost immediately.

A fireball shot as high as 100 feet- and the flames were maintained by the high-pressure gas roaring from the broken line for the next 3 hours until the pipeline is purged of it's supply.

Homes within 100 feet of the flaming crater caught fire immediately- the increasing flames and radiated heat- fanned of winds around 20 m.p.h. and gusting- spread quickly to other structures downwind.

People- entire families literally ran for their lives- some escaped via their backyards.

With a crucial water main broken by the pipeline rupture- it wasn't until 30 minutes after the explosion when the first water hit flames- by then fire was roaring over and into buildings for a 3-block spread.

As of this report early Friday morning- there is 1 confirmed dead- and around 2 dozen injured- several of those critically.

The explosion's crater reportedly is at or near a location where there was some sort of playground- and there's no way of knowing in the chaos right now if there was anyone there when the pipeline blew- or on the street or in the nearby houses that were incinerated almost instantly.

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