A gas leak triggered an explosion inside a residence in San Francisco's Bernal Heights neighborhood Monday morning, according to fire officials.
No one was injured by the blast, but an estimated 100 people living in 19 nearby residences were forced to evacuate, Rex Hale with the San Francisco Fire Department said. Residents were able to return to their homes after 3 p.m.
Just before 10 a.m., firefighters received calls about a gas leak along the 3900 block of Mission Street, Hale said. Arriving firefighters positioned themselves away from the area in question and as they were walking toward it, an explosion occurred at 3987 Mission St.
Front windows and the garage of the three-story residence were blown out by the force of the blast, according to Hale.
The explosion left the Godoy family without a home and almost without a son.
Just moments before the blast, Carlos Godoy Jr., who is deaf, was home alone and sleeping. Suddenly, he felt a strange vibration that caused him to get up and get out.
"He explained, 'I just feel something moving, and I run out of the house,' and it destroyed everything," said Carlos' sister Elizabeth Godoy. "I can’t believe it."
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
Hale believes the gas leak occurred somewhere in the street, but he wasn't sure how the gas made its way into the building.
"I would expect that gas was filling up that garage and it hit a pilot light and that's what caused the explosion," Hale said. "There's no other real reason for that. That's more than likely what happened."
PG&E said around 1:15 p.m. that its crews were able to safely stop the flow of gas. But crews remained at the scene late Monday night, still searching for the source of the leak.
NBC Bay Area's Terry McSweeney contributed to this report.
