San Bruno neighborhood marks somber anniversary

SAN BRUNO, Calif. (KTVU) -- Dozens of San Bruno residents gathered Wednesday evening to pay tribute to the people who died in a devastating PG&E natural gas explosion exactly five years ago.

Some residents said they first thought a bomb had gone off. Others assumed a plane crashed.

But it was a PG&E natural gas pipleline that ruptured, setting off an explosion and fireball that tore through the Crestmoore neighborhood, killing eight people and destroying 38 homes.

"It's the five-year anniversary of the worst day of our lives," said Bill Magoolaghan.

Magoolaghan's wife and three small childen were about to have dinner when their world suddenly changed.

"They saw this orange glow, felt the heat go through the house. My wife just grabbed the kids and ran out the front door," he said.

Their home was badly damaged. But even worse, the children were traumatized.

"My two daughters were in therapy. They were having nightmares. They were iunable to sleep," he said.

The Magoolaghans are back in their home. The neighborhood has slowly come back, although there is still construction and completion still may be more than a year away.

PG&E was fined $1.6 billion and is fighting criminal charges of poor record keeping and obstructing justice.

"It's about the humaity of a neighborhood and a city that lost 8 people in a flash. That didn't have to happen and it could have happened in any of our communities," said San Bruno Mayor Jim Ruane.

Pg&E issued a statement saying "we do not believe that pg&e employees intentionally violated the pipeline saftey act, and that even where mistakes were made, employees were acting in good faith."

City leaders say five years later when it comes to gas piplelines, San Bruno is safer than it was, but not as safe as it should be.

"I'm not satisfied that what happened in san bruno couldn't happen again. We must get to a point where we are satisfied," said City Manager Connie Jackson

"We lost a lot of good people," said Magoolahan. "We lost kids, moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas. People who should be with us today."