Ruptured

pipeline causes deadly explosion

SAN BERNADINO, Calif. A rupture in the Calney Pipeline ignited an explosion on Duffy Street
and Highland Avenue at 8:11 a.m. today, leaving residents of the neighborhood distraught.

Paul Allaire, the spokesperson for the San Bernardino Fire Department, states that two deaths
have been reported in relation to the explosion in a home on Duffy Street. Firefighters are
currently looking for a third victim in the home.

According to hospital officials, seven burn victims have been admitted to the San Bernardino
County Medical Center. Their conditions are currently unavailable.

Gregory Garcia, a spokesperson for the mayor of San Bernardino, says about 700 people have
been sent to the Red Cross evacuation center located at the Job Corps Center at 3753 Kerry
Street, San Bernardino, California.

Smoke has been reported visible as far away as the Riverside and Ontario neighboring
communities as seven houses have been immersed in flames that shoot about 100 feet into the
air.

We were sitting at the table and we heard this loud noise, and it just started getting bigger. I
ran to the window and looked out and could see nothing but smoke, said Bill Stewart, an
insurance agent, who at the time was visiting a client in a house about a block away from the
explosion. We looked outside. The grass was burning- green grass burning. Everything was
burning, even the concrete.

To prevent further damage, the Southern California Gas Co. workers are in the neighborhood to
shut off gas lines to avoid any possibility of a natural gas explosion. Highland Avenue at Macy
Street is closed to motorists until further notice.

Currently, officials have not been able to determine the cause of the pipeline break but suggest
the derailing of a 69-car freight train two weeks ago in the same neighborhood could have
caused issues with the pipeline.

We dont know the cause of the break, said David Andries, an official of the Calnev gas
company. It could have been the train obviously.

According to the San Bernardino City Attorney, Jim Penman, the city was assured by the experts
who examined the pipeline that it was safe following the railroad accident.


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The Calnev Pipeline is a 550-mile underground refined oil products pipeline owned by Kinder
Morgan Energy Partners and is managed by the Calnev gas company. The pipeline carries
gasoline, jet fuel and diesel fuel from Los Angeles, California to Nellis Air Force Base south of
North Las Vegas, Nevada. At the time of the explosion it was transporting unleaded fuel from
Colton, California to Nevada.

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