An Emotional Week for South City

This has been quite an eventful first week for South San Francisco Patch.

On Thursday night, as I was getting ready to go the SSFUSD School Board meeting, I got a call from San Bruno Patch editor, Martin Ricard, telling me there was a fire in the hills.  He wasn't yet sure if it was in San Bruno or South City, so I called the fire department.  The officer in charge told me all units were out on a call and he had to keep the line free.  I got in the car and started driving.

As I rounded the bend on Highway 101 through South City, I could see the flames bursting in the air.  I ended up going to the Kaiser Hospital emergency room to talk to people waiting for relatives who had been injured.  Some of the people there had lost their homes. 

Nora Tobar of Fairmont Drive, whose husband was burned in the blast, said to me, ""Material things — you can buy them again.  We were so crowded anyway."

Later that night, I reported from the Red Cross shelter at San Bruno's City Park.  I got home around 1am and was out early the next day to interview people who had been evacuated from their homes. 

On Saturday, I went to South City's first September 11^th commemoration on the lawn outside City Hall.  Firefighters, police officers and elected officials all talked about how the heroism and sacrifice of 9/11 resonated with them that week.

"We experienced that on Thursday evening when every available man in South City went over to assist our neighbors in San Bruno as best they could," said Mayor Mark Addiego.

Everywhere I went, people talked about how the fire has shown the strength of their community.  At the Red Cross shelter, hours after the fire started, with the smell of smoke still in the air, a pile of donated clothes, blankets, food and water grew by the hour as people pulled up in cars to drop things off.  Hundreds of volunteers waited into the night to see if they could help.  Local businesses banded together to make donations to assist fire victims.  And a Cub Scout troop personally touched by loss organized meals for a victim's family and donations to the Red Cross.

Lately, I've been following reports that PG&E had assessed part of the pipeline that exploded in San Bruno as one of its top hundred riskiest sections of pipe.  Significantly, it wasn't the part of the pipe that exploded; rather, it's another section, a few miles away, and in 2007, PG&E rated it as prone to failure. 

Where is it?  Why, it's right under South City, in a "heavily urbanized area."

PG&E won't say where exactly it is geographically, for security concerns.  But we do know that they increased rates for customers in 2009 to pay for the $5 million it would take to replace it—and then they didn't replace it.  Now they've filed with the California Public Utilities Commission for another fee increase, so they can replace it in 2013.

It's hard to assess whether it is an immediate risk, and a PG&E spokesperson said they checked the line last Friday and it's safe.  But as federal officials look into pipeline safety, I'll be watching to see if they create federal regulations for pipeline maintenance.

There was some non-fire news this week, including an eventful celebration of Las Fiestas Patrias, the independence of Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua.  Hundreds of people came out to watch singers and dance performances outside of City Hall on Sunday.

It was a fun day at the right time, and I'm looking forward to Day in the Park.  I'm so excited to be starting South San Francisco Patch at a time when community means more to South City than ever.