San Bruno Explosion (1/3) – What did we learn?

On September 9th, 2010 just after 6PM a large fireball erupted in the City of San Bruno, just south of San Francisco.  Initial reports were of an airplane crash from the nearby San Francisco International Airport.  An entire neighborhood was on fire and others were evacuated.  We would soon learn the explosion was the result of a natural gas pipeline explosion.  A week after the blast, we sat down with the IC of the event Battalion Chief Joe Telles, Fire Engineering Editor Bobby Halton and Oakland Fire’s EMS Manager Dan Girard.  Our discussion revolves around how the response to explosion was a perfect example of how forming personal relationships with other agencies and responders BEFORE an emergency can make handing the event a smoother, safer experience.