Carolyn Said
San Francisco Chronicle
(TNS)
Feb. 18—An out-of-control car slammed into an Oakland garage on Saturday evening, shearing a gas main and igniting a major blaze that drew 30 firefighters.
The fire was under control at 7:48 p.m — more than two hours after the crash was reported, said Michael Hunt, a spokesperson for the Oakland Fire Department.
Until that time, firefighters were still controlling the blaze while Pacific Gas and Electric Co. was using an excavator to dig up the sidewalk to access the main line and shut off the gas, he said.
The gas-fed fire could not be capped because it had the potential to cause an explosion.
"We do leave the gas burning," Oakland Fire Department Battalion Chief James Bowron said in a news conference on Twitter before the gas was shut off. "We're holding the fire in check. Having the gas burn is the safest for everyone, it consumes all the fuel."
The car's five occupants — two parents and their three preteen children — all extricated themselves safely from the vehicle and were sitting on the curb when first responders arrived, Hunt said. Two of the children were transported to Children's Hospital "as a precautionary measure," Hunt said, but none had significant injuries.
It appeared that mechanical failure was the cause, Hunt said.
The house associated with the garage was unoccupied at the time. A neighboring garage and house, which appeared to be under construction, also caught fire and sustained minor damage, Hunt said.
The car was traveling on Campus Drive below Merritt College. It crossed Redwood Road at a high rate of speed and came onto Sereno Circle, where it hit a curb and traveled an additional 40 yards or so into the detached garage where it hit the residential gas main, Hunt said. No other vehicles were in the garage.
No neighbors had to be evacuated, and there was no danger to the rest of the neighborhood, Hunt said.
"It was a great job by crews to contain the fire to the primary structure of origin and to keep the fire away from the rest of the home," he said.
San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Jordan Parker contributed to this report.
Reach Carolyn Said: [email protected]; Twitter: @csaid
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