At least one dead, many injured in San Bruno gas line explosion

A spokeswoman for San Mateo County OES confirms there has been one fatality and more than 25 homes involved in the blaze. San Mateo County Sheriff's Office Detective Sean O'Donnell said several hundred people have been displaced.

9:45 p.m. -- KGO-TV reports San Mateo emergency services confirming one fatality

9:30 p.m. -- KPIX-TV interviewed a resident who said there have been numerous complaints of gas smells over the past few days and PG&E has been out to investigate more than once.

9:20 p.m. -- Reporter Matthias Gafni spoke with retired Contra Costa Fire Battalion Chief Dave George.

"What makes this fire so devestating and so difficult is essentially it creates the equivalent of an 8-alarm fire

in the heart of a residential neighborhood," George said. "It behaves differently than most other fires because it grows in all directions at the same time. Whatever it wants to do, it does."

George said the heat of the fire would be upwards of 1,200 degrees, which could create radiant heat hot enough to burn a couch inside a brick home through the window.

He said that theoretically, firefighters would first help residents escape and gather resources, as they waited for the gas to be turned off. They would then draw lines at areas on the perimeter where they would work on preventing the fire from crossing and slowly work their way toward the center as possible.

"This is really a worst case scenario," he said. "The closest Quantcast thing to something like this is when a wildland fire hits a residential neighborhood."

9:15 p.m. -- ABC7 reports San Francisco Giant Pablo Sandoval rented a home in the burned area for his mother. She was evacuated and is safe.

KPIX-TV reported that PG&E shut off the gas supply to the area.

9:10 p.m. -- Reporter Sean Maher is at St. Francis Memorial Hospital: At least three people have been transported to the hospital from Seton Medical Center in Daly City, where the patients were stabilized.

ABC7 reports: Emergency Hotline for Shelter Info: 650-616-7180. Evacuation Center: San Bruno Veterans Memorial Recreation Center at 251 City Park Way.

American Red Cross: Evacuation center is also open at the Bay Hill Shopping Center at San Bruno Ave and Cherry Street. Red Cross volunteers on scene to help.

9 p.m. -- San Mateo County Times reporter Mike Rosenberg:

A family of four who did not give their names tried to get into their car to escape but the car was too hot.

Marilyn Siacotos, a neighbor who lives at the intersection of Fairmont Drive and Concord Way, drove by and picked up the family, consisting of a father, a mother, a son and a daughter. The family lost its cat in the fire.

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