At 6:11:12 pm PDT on September 9, 2010, a huge explosion occurred in the Crestmoor residential neighborhood of San Bruno, near Skyline Boulevard and San Bruno Avenue.[8] This caused a fire, which quickly engulfed nearby houses. Emergency responders from San Bruno and nearby cities soon arrived at the scene and evacuated surrounding neighborhoods. Strong winds fanned the flames, hampering fire fighting efforts.[11] The blaze was fed by a ruptured gas pipe, and large clouds of smoke soared into the sky. It took 60 to 90 minutes to shut off the gas after the explosion, according to San Bruno Fire Chief Dennis Haag.[12] The explosion and resulting fire leveled 35 houses and damaged many more. Three of the damaged houses, deemed uninhabitable, were torn down in December, bringing the total to 38. About 200 firefighters battled the eight alarm fire that resulted from the explosions.[13][14] The explosion excavated an asymmetric crater 167 feet (51 m) long, 26 feet (7.9 m) wide[15] and 40 feet (12 m) deep along the sidewalk of Glenview Drive in front of 1701 Earl Avenue (a corner house), but many of the destroyed homes were eastward in the 1600 block of Claremont Drive.[12]
