meg whitman is lying about jerry brown again...on taxes again. newspapers have called many of her ads untrue. fact: jerry brown cut taxes by $4 billion and says no new taxes without voter approval. but meg whitman's nose just keeps growing by the millions. welcome to beyond the headlines, i'm cheryl jennings. every week we to pick on different topic. on september 9th a gas pipe explode in in san bruno and what

came next was an unimaginable suburban disaster. we're going to hear some of the stories and what the victims are coping with and we'll help you prepare in case it happens in your neighborhood. let's take what happened on that fateful day. >> smoke is all the way up to the house. >> looks like the whole block. >> could be a rupture. probably engulfed almost half a city block or so. >> reporter: 37 homes were destroyed in that blast, 18 homes uninhabitable and 33 homes received minor damaging. at the time of the typing there were eight fatalities and 66 people were injured. joining us is one of the survivors of the san brun her her home received what is called

minor damage but her neighborhood was destroyed. with all the chaos that day, her actions have been labeled as nothing less than heroic. please welcome her. thank you for being here. >> i work for the peninsula medical group. >> you were described as one of the heroes of that day. take me back to what was going on just before this happened. what were you and your family doing i was cooking dinner, amanda was on the computer and ching th was watching the game. we thought we were having an earthquake. we all went to the door ways to stand under the doorways but it didn't stop. it got louder and louder so it sounded like an airplane. the house was jumping up and down. it was coming up and down off the foundation. my husband opened the front door and got burned. flash burned on his face.

>> reporter: so when did i make the decision to get out house? >> i happened to look out itself back window and saw the fireball. he picked amanda up off the ground because she was panicked. we didn't make it very far before joe came up. >> tell me what happened next. >> my husband heard him asking for help before he saw him coming. he kept trying to get him to sit down. he wanted my husband to hug him. he was horribly burned, probably third to fourth degree burns. you could tell by looking at him he was already in shock. if you touch somebody the chance of infection is greater. >> so then what happened? >> i told mike, there is no phone lines or get help.

i know -- >> you got him to the hospital. >> took him to the hospital, drove like an ambulance, running red lights and down the wrong side of the street. >> there was more, he had a girlfriend. >> he had a girlfriend and he is actually the hero, he tried to save her. he kept telling her how bad he felt she perished in the fire and he had to watch that happen. >> do you how he is doing? >> he is still critical. another day is another day he makes it. his family is having a strong time. >> i hear deep breathing, it was tough for you to watch this. and about joe and his girlfriend and what about your own family. we were talking about, the house was minorly damaged. >> when you walk by and look at it, it looks pretty but don't judge a book by its cover.

there was quite a bit of damage to the house. >> you and you and your family emotionally to hr to get up from this. >> we have one foot on the ground ready to go, we can't sleep. we have to make sure there is nothing happening in the neighborhood. you don't want to be home because you are still terrified. >> how is your daughter doing with this? >> she is trooper. she is doing better than i expected actually. she probably was the main reason that joe is alive. >> because she was? >> she sat with him and rubbed his leg and we prayed for him and had the windows down and air conditioner on. >> so amanda was there. >> absolutely she was really amazing in taking care of him.

>> reporter: you talked about how everything seems different. how about your priorities, waited you look at life? >> you know i actually feel guilty because so much many people have more work than i do. we have ourstrucks but i still have my kids and my family. and my home. and so many people, like our neighbors, they lost everything. all they have is each other. we take care of each other, its tight community. >> reporter: that is good to hear. thank you so much for being here. and congratulations to your whole family for getting through this. right now we do have to take a break. we're going to talk to a doctor that will give us insight into what the san bruno victims have to go through. we'll be back in just a moment.

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almost like ptsd because everybody was so affeed so much. >> that is a good way to put it. what the community is going through. i can't even imagine. a state of shock. their security, not to mention their homes. some people have lost family members, their skin -- the whole community has been affected by this. >> reporter: what are some of the symptoms or outward symptoms? >> i can vary from person to person how somebody deals with a trauma like this. depending on how much they were exposed and what their reaction was at the time of the trauma. so in the immediatefollowing son following something like this, a lot of people have what we call a state of shock. they look a little bit dissociated, spaced out. that can last few days or few weeks. >> reporter: so they would still

be feeling>> for >> for some. for somebody exposed to this kind of trauma. the research is done 15-30% of people will go on to havef s kind of symptoms following that. some kind of symptoms feeling spaced out. feeling of unreality. we experience wagon is going on, nightmares. feeling they can't enjoy life. they are numb from the world. >> reporter: what are some of the things they can do to rebuild themselves? >> the that can be helpful is that knowing these things are normal. a common reaction is guilty. guilt of being a survivor or shame, the feeling that somehow you were to blame, that you did something wrong. you didn't do enough. and then there is a feeling of feeling numb from the world. a feeling more irritable,

feeling you can't sleep. those can make feel, they feel crazy or something is wrong with them. the first thing to know, these are symptoms that happen to most people following a trauma. there is something that can be a normal experience to trauma. >> we're putting a number on the screen that need to get help or refer somebody. >> if these symptoms don't get better, if you turn to the community, you've turned to the family, you've tried relaxation techniques, the symptoms aren't getting better, get professional help. the number is san mateo county mental health access line. that is the number to call. if you have insurance or if you have a pmary care doctor already, you can get a referral directly through those sources, talk to a counselor or psychiatrist. >> you mentioned earlier, very quickly, why dot you go over again.

they are very specific. if can't bring yourself to call somebody. >> sure. exercise is very helpful during this. any kind of relax a have a yoga practice. if you have something you do. you walk around the neighborhood. the is the time to really make time for that. when you experience a trauma, your heartbeats fast, your breathing is fast and mind is overloaded with stress hormones. getting back into relaxation practice can calm that down. turning to your family, turning to your community, turning to your support, whoever that may be. in times of trauma, natural reaction could be withdraw. >> you don't want to stuff your feelings away? >> something horrible has happened to you. you want to protect yourself from the you put you put a force field up, in a way you feel safe like nothing can hurt you again.

it doesn't work long term. >> reporter: it's better to talk about it? >> it's better -- what we call is seeking safety, to reestablish a pattern that is going to allow you to have a safe place in your life to feel the natural emotions that are going to come up, the sadness and grief. and to try to move on. >> reporter: the community and emotions going on, is there any silver lining at all? >> yeah. there really is. for a lot of people who yeans trauma it can be a time you come closer to family or reevaluate what is important in their lives. i don't want to make light of what people are feeling. they've gone through a huge tragedy. a lot of people who have been through a tragedy they come out of it and say, wow, that really

helped me. suddenly it didn't matter anymore. that is how much my husband or wife meant to me. >> so the silver lining is the closeness, community and family, perhaps? >> yes, and a new appreciation foall the stuff you and i take for granted. having to breathe, having skin, it's basic that we take granted fo are granted every day. >> reporter: those numbers will be posted on our websitcan acce can access those numbers or give them to somebody else. we do have to take another quick break. when we come back we're going to visit with people that were on the front line and how the city is putting back the pieces, stay

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welcome back. i'm cheryl jemgs. joining me right now is chief of the fire department and san bruno city manager connie johnson. i want to thank you both for being here today. chief, i want to take you back

on september 9th and when you first got the call, what did you think? >> initially i was eating dinner and i thought dinner was going to get cold. they said an explosion. to respond to an explosion it could be a transformer but as soon as it came out of station, we saw the smoke. it was alerted by te first team captain that he had to call multiple alarms because there was fireball. we knew this was not going to be something would be typical fire explosion. >> reporter: do you practice for something like this? >> that is good question. i look back and someone said, they never showed us a 30 inch gas main. but on the way up there, we were told it might be a plane. it could be anything. i got great information from my

first on-team unit to set a plan. there was no water at the time. we did asset good plan, we got lucky on a few aspects. >> reporter: the water thing, how there is no way you can plan for that. >> yes. we got very lucky. we had two hours of daylight left. in that particular area, cal fire was heading our way. they had alerted their air graft kra off to the get retardant from santa rosa and helicopters. the plan was to hold the fire where it was. mitigate the reason for the fire and decrease the boundary. when we found out there was no water, we used water tenders and helicopters, they save us. they stopped it from getting

into the crestmore canyon which is high threat zone. >> you guys really got on the line. i can't imagine the damage it's caused dollar wise. you do have a figure for us. >> currently, it's over $55 million. that doesn't include the cost of the and allesponse and all the d activities. >> reporter: you have houses destroyed and also infrastructure destroyed. how do you go about rebuilding that. >> there is a response period, priorities for the community and for the city obviously to make sure that everything is covered hundred percent. we're looking at right now

complying with all the regulations from the state and federal grant programs. they have made a commitment of $100 million, looking how that can be accessed as well. >> reporter: are you getting everything from the community and these agencies? >> absolutely. the community has hng r overwhelming response, not just the days the incident but continually since then. they have been extremely unfortunate the partnership. >> reporter: how aut just everyday folks, is there something that we can do? >> we have set up a fund for the city of san bruno and we have engaged in nonprofit partners to provide services. it's for the benefit of the families that were most

impacted. there are lots of opportunities to help with the nonprofits. >> i want to ask you, what can we do to prepare for another disaster should this ever happen again. we do have crisis? >> we do. and knowing where where the utilities are and how to turn things off. in this instance, this was major. we are now tracking all those types of utilities that can be a major incident i area. area. people at home, you want to be able to be able to evacuate and know your evacuation route and now where everybody is in your house. they call it exit drills in the home. get to safe place so you can count everybody noses and make sure you can get them to safe place. >> i would add that the

community, what occurred during this incident, i would what they said, know your neighbors and community has been so strong. >> i wish you all the success for rebuilding. thank you for what you are doing. we appreciate it. we're going to posting all that information, knowing where the pipelines are in your neighborhood. we're going to take another break. when we come back, michaelnney l finney will be here to tell you what you need

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welcome back. d the we have been talking about the san bruno fire and the aftermath. this tragedy and homeowners insurance but there is a lot to watch out for. michael finney has the story. >> first the fire victims must deal with the emotional loss of displacement and then with the realities of rebuilding. things are bad but for many homeowners there is a glimmer of hope. >> one of the few bright spots for a disaster victim is they are not alone and the spotlight is shining on their situation. >> consumer activist that puts everyone including politicians and insurance companies on their best behavior. still, with this kind of cash on the line, it's best to remember,

it's business, notp. >> insurance is big business and if you think they are going to come along and write you giant check, you are naive. >> for those that suffered no damage or just very small damage to their home but forced to evacuate, it could be money coming to them. insurance information, they say insurance companies by law must reimburse their clies if there is a forced evacuation. now, of course, deductibles must first be met. >> reporter: michael finney is here. thank you for being here. >> happy to be here. >> you always hear about people getting ripped off. what can fol do to not be naive? >> the first thing, they have a contractual relationship with their insurance company, notices at friendship. they are more than likely do the right thing but they are going to do it because of the time

factor but whenever there is a disaster like this, everybody shows up all friendly but it's a contract and not a friendship. >> we building, contractors and always a little scary because there are people that are advertising and seem like a good guy but you have to watch out for certain things? >> whenever you have a disaster, everybody comes in to get work. hatch of them know how to do the job and the other half are just going to be looking for work and the small minority are ripoffs. the problem that you have in a disaster so many people are involved and so many people have been affected that you end up with prices skyrocketing. this is fairly limited so the price to repair those homes, build a new home to new things, prices should stay the same. that means it's easier for them

to measure what they ought to be paying. they don't have to add that 20% ntractors about contractors and making sure they are licensed? >> absolutely. here in the state of california, it's very easy to go to the contractor's state license board you can find out if you they are licensed or not. >> and what about the next time there is a disaster,t but there will be a problem? >> there will be. most important thing you can do honestly, grab a video camera, if you don't have one, grab a film camera, walk around your house and take a picture of everything. imagine a bookshelf, how much money is on that bookshelf, several thousand dollars. if you can't remember every book you can't get the money for it. the le incide incident linen cl,

cds, if you take an afternoon, don't write it down. you ge people toouch to do they are not going to do anything. wonder around and take a picture of everything and put someplace else, not in your house. >> and important documents. >> and of course, you want to make copies of all your documents, it's better to may be load them into cloud computing so they are safe and get to them quickly. great advice as always. we are out of time. we want to say a special thanks for the guests that were here today. that is had it for this edition. information about today's show is on our website at www.abc7.com. click on the community page. i'm cheryl jennings, thanks so much for being with us. have a good week [ female announcer ] the sweet moments package is baby blue. calming. tranquil like the sky.

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