we're live at the command post at the site of the san bruno explosion. why residents have been coming here and what they have been asking of police. the survivors of the blast are working to pick up their lives. we're talking to some of them. you'll hear some amazing stories. we're learning more about the patients who are among the critically injured in last night's fire in san bruno. what doctors have to say about the long road to recovery ahead.

good afternoon. topping our news, the cleanup, the investigation and the search-and-rescue efforts all following the massive gas explosion in san bruno. we're waiting for news conference to begin with city and local officials who will have some new information and when that news conference begins, we will bring it to you live. these are live pictures from when they are setting up the news conference. meanwhile, at this hour, crews are trying to access the san bruno neighborhood decimated by the natural gas and explosion that ripped through dozens of homes and killed at least four people. the heart of the devastation, the intersection of glen view drive and earl avenue. right now parts of the neighborhood are still smoldering and that is hampering search-and-rescue efforts. . >> i want some answers on what happened. you know from what everybody is

saying, look down at the bottom of the hill, there was gas for days or weeks or something. i don't know. >> somebody needs answers for this. >> pg&e says it doesn't know what caused the 30-inch gas lineupture last night. it set a massive fireball about 100 feet in the air and set the neighborhood ablaze. four deaths have been confirmed. more than 50 other people were injured including several firefighters. 38 homes were destroyed and a another 7 significantly damaged. we have live team coverage this noontime. we begin with clawedy wong who joins us at the site of the explosion. >> as the sun rose this morning, we got a first look at the damage and the utter devastation the explosion and fire left in the wake. we're at the command post behind me. this is where everybody gathers before they go down to the hill, to where the crater was

left by the explosion. you could see the blue pg&e trucks, going down into the area. we've seen fire crews going down, cadaver dogs looking for victims. investigators are trying to figure out how something like this could happen. this is considered a crime scene so all access has been blocked. the situation literally changes minute by minute. this is where many residents who live here and survived yesterday's blast have come and they are looking for answers. >> you could ask somebody? >> my brother-in-law, san francisco fire department. he's down there. >> we still want to go down the hill. >> residents asked, begged, pleaded with police to just let the folks to their houses today, just to see if they were still standing. yet they were pushed back as was our photographer as we got close to what is a crime scene. >> residents we talked to are still clearly trying to come to

grips what ripped through their neighborhood last night. this morning, the crater and the damage could clearly be seen from above. what's left after this terrifying explosion and fireball ripped in the streets. >> i heard this loud explosion rumbling like three times. oh, it was amazing. really amazing. it's really huge. next thing, the explosion together with -- could actually feel the house -- the house felt like -- didn't know if it was an earthquake. >> i saw kid down there last night. i got home 15 minutes before that thing blew. i don't know who was down there. the heat was so intense that when we walked in the house, it was actually burning it. >> for some, all we can offer is a look through the truck and the cameras. for some, it was enough. >> this one.

>> that's your house. >> that's our house. >> you were pretty happy. >> you saw it was still standing? >> yes. >> for others, we couldn't see their house so they left still not knowing. >> my dog survived the fire -- that's okay. >> this is not just about their houses. these residents say the images and the terror of yesterday stays with them. >> i'm an emotional wreck. if i don't have a house, we're all alive and my family is safe. just the -- how scared we were, what we're going to go through with this, pretty bad. my daughter slept on the bathroom door. >> she's that scared. >> she's having nightmares from this. >> and back out live here at the command post. just above the site of where this natural gas line blew,

pg&e set a couple of hours, it hadn't even gone down to the crater that was created. they said it was still unstable. they don't know how it happened. we have to be careful going down there. as we said earlier, we did see a bunch of pg&e trucks. you see the fire truck is crossing the area. you go across the bridge and down. that's where the crater sits. they are heading down there. they have been heading down there the last few minutes. whether they are able to determine if it is safe and start investigating to make sure it is safe, it's still unclear. we're waiting for the press conference to hopefully get more information. the hard work on trying to figure out how that happened and to search for a possible victim continues. >> thank you. here's a look at the heavily damaged areas. the streets highlighted in red shows where homes were burned to the ground. 38 homes in all were destroyed

in the explosion of fire. dozens of others were damaged. san bruno officials stress everyone who lives in the fire zone needs to check in with officials. they recommend calling the special hot line set up for the purpose. the number is area code 650-616- 7180. residents could also sign in at the residential centers. we have that information at ktvu.com. lieutenant maldonado has been on scene since last night. he's the acting governor while governor nor schwarzenegger is on a trade mission in asia. he assured people the lack after state budget will not be a factor in helping them. >> i want to assure the people of san bruno and the people of the bay area and california that while we don't have a state budget, this will not be affected. last night we flew in four

aircraft immediately. we put in five strikes team, 40 general ins-- engines. we have put everything in the incident. the budget has nothing to do with what's happened here. >> maldonado says he's making sure the investigation moves forward with, with pg&e to get to the bottom on what happened and to prevent it from happening again. he's also spending time visiting people impacted on the fire including those in shelters and hospitals. ktvu, is at the hospitals, where we learned some new information. good afternoon. >> we're at st. francis memorial hospital in san francisco, where they wrapped up a press conference a short time ago. one of the physicians were the hospitals, specialized burn center gave us an update on the conditions of the four people brought here early this morning. four patients were all injured in last night's gas line explosion and fire in san bruno. three of the patients are in critical condition with what

the doctor described as a life- threatening burn hovering about half of their body. a fourth patient is in serious condition, with burns over 4% of the body. he won't know if the critically injured patient is out of the woods and on the road to recovery until sunday. the recovery process for burn victims like this could be a lengthy one. >> will be here for a few weeks. again, the initial phase was last night, resuscitation. the next phase will start, in terms of removing the issue. next phase will be the skin graphing. the long-term will be reconstructive procedure. this could go on for a year or two. >> in the immediate aftermath of the fire, a total of 23 people were brought to kaiser south san francisco. that's one of the central locations that the injured were taken to. of the 23, one person is still recovering, still receiving treatment. four were transferred to the burn center in st. francis.

the rest were treat and released. san francisco general hospital also received five injured patients. of the five, four are listed in critical condition. one person brought there was treated and released. that brings the total number of critically injured patients as a result of the bruno fire to seven people. ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you, alley. a big part of the effort is taking care of those who survive but have been evacuated. ktvu's jade hernandez has been in one of the shelters where she's heard some incredible stories. >> in here? >> after spending the night with her son in pacifica, she came to the red cross shelter this rning. >> at first, i thought the world was coming to an end. it's so devastating. >> she came to register to let thorities know she's still alive. >> she got out with practically nothing, my purse, my meds. it's still in my house.

>> i'm thankful for god giving our family a second chance to live. >> 18-year-old walterman told to volunteers for an overnight bed. over a dozen evacuees spent the night. six more evacuees spent the night in a senior center. as volunteers sorted. donations continued to pour in. >> when you see your neighbor's homes on fire and people you know you could pick out, you know, your friend's houses, it's kind of sad. at the same time, it makes you want to come and help. >> so we just thought we'd bring coffee this morning. maybe that would help out a little bit. >> the director of the centers training for the disaster is one thing. reacting to your neighbor's tragedy, is another. >> you know the people that are affect the by it, it adds a whole new layer. >> residents who donated felt the same way. >> and this is very

devastating. >> and that was jay hernandez reporting. we want to let you know the red will be holding a news conference in minutes. they will get to the officials to bring us any update, and when they carry the news conference we will get it to you live. as recap, four deaths have been confirmed but the number is expected to go higher. more than 50 people were injured including several firefighters who suffered smoke inhalation 38 homes were destroyed while another seven were significantly damaged. stay with ktvu for the continuing coverage for the devastating explosion and fire in san bruno. get updates and video by going to our channel 2 website at ktvu.com. many people made their own video and posted the videos on youtube. this video was shot by john

coppello. he posted it around 8:30 last night. you could also send any video to ktvu news with an e-mail address photo at ktvu.com. the countdown to freedom. new details about the scheduled release of one of the american hikers detained in iran. we'll check with meteorologist to see how the weekend forecast is shaping up. the president weighs in on the economy today. who he says is holding up the recovery process. >> ...berber carpet. it was a whole bowl of stew. nooo. why? i could have saved this one. i could have saved this one. ♪ call 1-800-steemer

these are live pictures from san bruno, where we are waiting for a news conference to begin with city officials and most likely fire and the police chief to get the latest information following the massive gas explosion and fire in the san bruno neighborhood. once the news conference begins we will bring it to you live. while turning to other news painfully slow, that's how president obama described the progress of the nation's economy has made climbing out of its recession. during a white house news conference, the president says he understand the frustration americans feel that a recovery has not come more quickly. he insisted his stimulus plans has helped and placed blame on republicans who he said are holding up efforts to expand

middle class tax cuts and help small businesses hire more workers. >> if you want the same kind of skew policies that led us to the crisis, then the republicans are ready to offer that. >> meanwhile, republicans say the requests is nothing more than new stimulus spending. the polls shows to the economic agenda waning and political analysts say that sentiment could help put more republicans in power during the november elections. >> check with meteorologist, steve polson to see what we have. >> warmer near the coast, by the coast. we're still dealing with a little fog from above. in the santa cruz coastline and then it pulls off. it looks like the fog will be increasing. lots of 70s and it's beautiful,

70, warmer weather. we started the weather with 90. wednesday, it was cold and mostly cloudy. now we're sitting at mostly sunny skies. the wind at sfo, daily city has turned northeast. about 20-25. midnight, it was 10. still westerly this morning. calm down now. northeast at 5 miles an hour. the last three hours, it's turned more northerly. the fact it's turned northeasterly is a different ball game compared to last night. it was very strong out of the west. little warmer will be the headline. much patchy fog will continue to the west. next week's looking cooler. next weekend we may be talking about rain. we don't want to get ahead of ourselves. patchy in the coast. temperatures, 60s, 70s and 80s. low to mid-80s. and especially to the marine

influence. 72 san francisco. palo alto, beautiful 74 in oakland berkeley. we have 60s in the coast, a little bit of fog. the interior and the 90s, valleys, 70's. and once that goes by, give it a slightly higher pattern for saturday. sunday, the fog will start to show itself as a weak system moves in. until then, unless you're right there on the coast, some of the fog will be in your forecast. otherwise it will be sunny. it will probably carry a couple of degrees warmer in the weekend. some patchy fog, sunny and warmer. it's very calm compared to a couple weeks ago. 60s, 70s and some 80s. a beautiful day in the coast for many. and fog will be in the increase as we said. it will be sunny and a little warmer inland on saturday. it looks like a cooling trend starts early next week. >> thank you. we're hearing more about the planned release tomorrow of sarah short, one of three

berkeley graduates in prison in iran for more than a year. her mother who lives in oakland is on the way to meet with her daughter. it was president ahmad jad who intervened. and this morning, traders on the floor of the new york stock exchange, had a moment of silence. the official commemorations is scheduled for tomorrow. president obama plans to be at the ceremony at the pentagon. vice president joe biden will be at the world trade center site. first lady obama and first lady laura bush will mark the day at the crash site of 93 in shanksville, pennsylvania. the florida minister who threatened to burn the koran is still deciding if he will do that. he agreed to cancel the koran

building because he was told that the planned site, mere mosque would be moved. a florida muslim leader said he made such promises to jones. he says he promises to facilitate a meeting with the new york muslim leader. we'll have more on the ktvu channel 2 news

the lieutenant governor is speaking in a news conference in san bruno. >> in essence, you could apply for unemployment at this moment. number three, i have just directed cal lima to coordinate the efforts of allstate agencies to assist the local assistant center and the victims of this horrible tragedy. we have also requested small business administration and fema assessors to immediately assess all property and see what additional assistance for the victims of the incident. i'd also like to add that pg&e has committed to temporary housing, to food, to clothing and other essential need for the victims. i also like to say, state that the red cross is coordinating at the veterans memorial

building in bruno park. i was just there. and the support from the community is amazing dropping off food, water, clothing-- all for the victims. i want to assure that the people of san bruno and the people of california that we are moving quickly to find the cause. it is very, very important to all of us. now if i may just briefly in spanish. [ speaking in spanish ] >> you are listening live to lieutenant governor abel

maldonado. governor schwarzenegger out of the state. he is speaking in spanish, he told us a moment ago. pg&e is committed to offering temporary housing, food, clothing to the victims. now we want to listen in to the city manager. >> assisting us in keeping the public informed. that's one of our primary immediate task. an important update will occur at a town hall meeting which will take place tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 p.m. this is an announcement for the public. a town hall meeting will be convened by the mayor and the city council tomorrow afternoon, 2:00 p.m. at saint roberts church in crystal string road, which is directly across the street from the veterans memorial recreation center. chief haig will give you an update on the status of the event to date. i could assure you, again, we

are doing everything possible to assist residents, through the recreation center with accessing resources. as i told you this morning, earlier, our local assistance center is up and running at the recreation center in crystal springs road. we have a large group of people that are currently taking advantage of that, those services and the shelter facilities which are available there. any person who needs to -- information about resources should report to that location and we're still encouraging residents who have not identified their whereabouts and their safety to report in at the recreation center so that we can begin to complete an accurate accounting of all the residents of the affected area. again, tomorrow afternoon, 2:00 p.m. at saint roberts church, a town

hal meeting with mayor and the city council. thank you. >> good afternoon. as mentioned by the lieutenant governor. we have completed 75% of the property on initial search with the rescue dogs. the other 25% of the residents are still too hot to enter so we still have to process, fully process before we let the dogs go in. we have 25 companies searching these residents. and as we requested, two additional irving search and rescue teams to assist us as there's quite a bit of rubble and debris that has to be cleared. we have one challenge, we're trying to repair the water and sewer lines so we can access

the crater and let pg&e have access to the gas lines. we have eight investigators on the scene currently. they will rule out everything and try to find out the source of the emission and we plan on having the damage assess, here in the afternoon. we want to make sure that everything is correct addresses and so for the and so on. that's the status right noi. thank you. . >> dennis haig -- fire chief, san bruno. h-a-a-g. no one gets it right, though. i want to now introduce police chief helter. >> from the law enforcement standpoint we continue to provide perimeter security as well as roving patrols in the area as well as providing assistance with the search and rescue mission. so that