Fiery Explosion Injures Woman, Shatters Store Windows - San Francisco

[Gold9472]

Fiery explosion injures woman, shatters store windows

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/s...explosion.html

By Paul Elias
ASSOCIATED PRESS

11:00 a.m. August 19, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO – A fiery explosion from an underground utility chamber in the downtown shopping district Friday burned a woman and shattered windows at a Ralph Lauren clothing store, authorities said.

Firefighters and police evacuated several blocks around the store in the Crocker Galleria area, said fire spokesman Peter Howes.

A crew from Pacific Gas & Electric Co. was not immediately able to determine the cause of the blast in its electrical vault because a bomb squad was investigating, said company spokesman Paul Moreno. He said there was no indication of a gas leak.

Tom Demartini, a construction worker who was sitting in his truck outside the store in the heart of the city, said he heard the explosion and saw the sidewalk rise six or seven inches.

"It sounded like a big poof, then there was a lot of smoke," Demartini said. "One woman looked like she was badly burned."

Scores of police officers and firefighters closed off the area and shut down several blocks as evacuated office workers milled about in the aftermath. The fire was quickly extinguished.

Workers in a nearby office building said the blast shook their buildings and they thought it was an earthquake. One woman said the elevator in her building stopped.

[Gold9472]

Woman hurt in San Francisco explosion

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/08/19/bla...eut/index.html

Friday, August 19, 2005; Posted: 2:23 p.m. EDT (18:23 GMT)

SAN FRANCISCO, California (Reuters) -- An explosion in San Francisco's central financial district on Friday injured at least one woman, and police closed several city blocks while they searched cause of the blast.

A police spokesman said it may have been an underground explosion. An electrical transformer could have been the cause of the explosion, one official said.

Witnesses reported a large bang shortly before 10 a.m. near Post and Kearny streets in front of a Ralph Lauren store in the central business district.

The blast caused lights in office buildings in the area to flicker. One woman was sent to the hospital with injuries, police officer Jason Hui said.

Officials evacuated buildings in a one block perimeter of the blast and roped off streets leading into the area. Several hundred workers milled around.

Dozens of firefighters and a number of fire trucks rushed the area, as did local utility workers.

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