this is christopher hart from ntsb. >> i will now take a few questions. >> okay. christopher hart has been asking for witnesses to come forward for the explosion. >> question is what was my assessment? it was amazing direction the charge trees and area that was completely flattened. melted charred cars and house that's disappeared and it was an amazing scene of destruction. >> were you wanting to talk to residents saying to many of the reporters here that they had smelled gas fumes in the past weeks? is that of interest to you? >> the question is will we be wanting to talk to residents reporting they smelled gas fumes? we'll want to talk to anyone who has information that is potentially per nent to this event. >> that is christopher harts of the national transportation safety board taking questions from the media. one of the things he wanted to know is asking for the public to come forward is there is nflgs f information there. have been reports of a smell of gas in the area. so they want information on that. >> yeah. we'll monitor that and continue to bring you u

christopher hart h a r t. >> the next meeting will be tonight. tonight. (no audio) >> mr. christopher hard he's the vice chair of the ntsb were waiting for the official said bruno's and their view of what happened last night as they gathered the microphone to talk to reporters. while we wait long to begin to think they are beginning to listen now? all right we are waiting for them to get the order of the appearance by the various officials will gather there. interesting and that christopher hart said it was amazing scene of destruction. we certainly have been showing the pictures and on the right side of your screen you can see when of the homes that one up in flames. he said a section of the pipeline at the whole on to the streets. that tells him the magnitude of the explosion trade again we were talking last out about how quickly the fire spread to the trinity and that explosion of is the reason why. the ntsb will not be looking at who's to blame or liability but will be looking at the operation and maintenance and history of the pipeline how was installed, what safeguard

here is christopher hart. >> i mentioned previously a 28- foot section of pipe that was blown out of the ground, blown 100 feet and sitting on the street. that piece of pipe, that 28- foot section of 30-inch pipe we are as we speak crating it up, putting it in a crate because investigators decided that needs to go back to our metalargy labs in washing to on the. we have heard -- washington we have heard people reported smelling gas but have no response to those reports. from the various sources we are looking to for that we are not able to find instances of people who reported an odour and we would ask anybody who says they reported smelling gas, to contact us through whatever means including that e- mail address. >> that e-mail address they gave earlier was san bruno. one word, at ntsb.gov. anyone with information is asked to say what they think they know in an e-mail and send it to them. we are learning more about that gas line the ruptured segment was considereds to be high consequence area it should get more rigid inspections than other gas lines according to puc documents dug up

. >>> we are back live at the news conversation where christopher hart the vice chairman of the nationalransportation safety board, federal regulators just approached the podium and just begun speaking. >> the purpose of the national transportation board and the reason we're here today is a federal agency to investigate transportation accidents of all types and then determine what caused those accidents and then make recommendations to try to prevent the accidents from occurring again. that is our purpose. that is what we're here for today. before i begin i would like to express on behalf of the ntsb condolences to the families and friends of the victims of this tragedy. leading the investigation is our investigator in charge, who is standing beside me. chattre. he has over 30 years of experience in pipelines. i'm a little bit short on information to provide to you because today was our first full day of investigation and we have not had the progress heating, the meeting in which i hear from all of the groups what they have accomplished. i can give you briefly what i understand has occur

be moments away from getting the latest from federal investigators hearing from vice chairman christopher hart from ntsb. he has been doing the app dates every day at 5:00 p.m.. he attended a meeting last night with other federal investigators and local officials and residents filling them in on the latest. his investigators will not take no for an answer and it will be here for as long as it takes to find all the answers they need in their investigation to figure out what went wrong. if they're here to provide an objective and unbiased report to figure out why it went wrong when this pipe exploded. he said they do not know the cause yet to and he was questioned by residents who asked him if he would even venture a guess last night and he reduced saying he did not know what went wrong and that's why they're doing exhaustive investigation on the pipeline carrie. he also said this is the second phase of the investigation and this is one hell do interviews and speaking to residents and looking over the documents which have been given to them by pg&e. we're awaiting the news conference i will brin

. >> christopher hart. > >> you have been listening to christopher hart, ntsb. spokesperson talking about the investigation into that huge pipeline explosion. couple of interesting things he was talking about. specifically what they are going to look into. looking in to the pipeline but also the maintenance, history, the pressure that pipeline can with stand. the safe guards, also the people operating the pipeline and they are investigate the emergency preparedness, the response plan that pg and e has and how the company responded once the explosion happened. also something very interesting. he said that right at the top there that 170 houses had been damaged or destroyed. the number that we had use of this morning were much lower than that. >> ken pritchett was at that meeting. ken pritchett. we heard you asking a question there about the people's report that smelling gas before the explosion. >> reporter: obviously you heard the ntsb saying the answer to that question was that is something that obviously is part of their investigation, would be very interestin

i'm here with christopher hart. he is the vice chairman of the ntsb. know you guys have been getting a lot of tips in from residents around the area. what are they saying? >> in fact, we invited tips because one of the things we want to know is, did anybody smell gas and report it immediately prior to this event? that would help us determine, for example, if there were a gas odor that would help us determine that there was a leak before the explosion as opposed to a catastrophic rupture which would have no leak before the explosion. >> reporter: but you only got one report thus far of somebody who did sme gas? >> yes, that was a few weeks ago. they called pg&e and pg&e responded. i'm looking for contemporaneous reports. >> you're taking those at sanbruno@ntsb.gov. >> reporter: a lot of folks would like to get back into the area. what are you doing on the ground? >> we have already released the pit itself back to the authorities so they can resume the return to normalcy of the infrastructure in there but meanwhile, we are completing our damage assessmen

vice chairman christopher hart joins me. thank you for being here.s far as finding out the cause of this explosion, what are the possibilities and what is the process? >> i won't speculate as to what might have caused it but the pieces, three pieces of pipe will be arriving in the washington d.c. metalergy lab tomorrow. in other words, did the give because of fatigue. contraction, did that cause fatigue, like bending a coat hanger back and forth before it broke. could it be corrosion, for example, impact damage from excavation. we'll look at all those causes. >> should there have been automatic shutoff valves, in place already? >> that's one of the issues we'll be exploring. this is a large pipeline and pipes of that size, the automatic shutoff valves are a little more difficult to accomplish. there are much smaller pipes that already have automatic shutoff valves. we'll explore that issue. >> we heard that you received 90 e-mails with regards to this incident. one apparently weeks ago report a smell of gas in the area and pg&e responded to that. wha

the >> good morning, let's get rid to what the national transportation safety board christopher harts investigating and talking to the media the big point is now he took the key parts of the piper way of heading to washington d.c. what is the next phase? >> mother is that phase, they will put that in the lab and will look to that in detail we will look at all the aspects so for example we visited the terminal where there's a monitoring and control station will be looking at the other monitoring and control stations, the gloves, the effect is on either side will investigating an interview witnesses we have a list of witnesses from the operator. we also receive some 90 e-mail's will fall on those. my response to her doorstep people who smelled gas and receive 90 e-mail's all the one of which said she smelled gas, to three weeks before i called them " responded we're still looking for people who have reports. >> what did the other e-mail's say? >> some videos, some simon's nearby to help, some said could work, it was quite a variety. >> is there a chance of this e- mail's may never come

christopher hart there was saying that the explosion may end up changing some policy and some safety measures. he suggested that these large gas pipelines should perhaps have an automatic shutoff valve when the pressure drops suddenly. so in this case, that would have meant that the fireball would ended much sooner because the gas would have been automatically cut off to that pipe. we want to check in right now with monte francis who was at the press conference. >> reporter: characteristic hart of the nthsb, the federal agency now in charge of this investigation just made some comments a few minutes ago. one of the things he addressed was this issue of the pipe being high-risk. i asked him about that, he said it didn't have to do with the supposed integrity of the pipe, but of the number of homes around that pipe. he said it was a class 3 pipe. which means there are more than 47 homes per mile of pipe. he said it was a segmented pipe which means it could have been repaired in the past. we asked a very important question at the end, a reporter asked, how many other class 3 pipes are t

you are listening to christopher hart ntsb. >> the tore in charge standing next to me is if linda withmassive degree in material sigh nens metal and some 35 years of experience in this business including 12 years at the ntsb and coincidentally about 20 years at pacific gas and electric before that. p so he will be in charge of the investigation and he led a meeting this afternoon to begin the investigative process and that began by forming working groups. working groups to look at various aspects of this accident starting with operation. looking at the history of this pipeline from the installation in 1956 through today the. they will be looking historically. >>reporter: okay that's christopher hart with the ntsb and keep in mind they are involved because they investigate pipeline accident that involve a fatality because a pipeline transports fuel around the nation. that's why the ntsb is involved and wonder what the connection is that's it. he's outlining some procedure live there in san bruno tonight as they begin the investigation in earnest. we will monitor the news conference. kee

we hope -- >> carolyn: the ntsb vice-chairman, christopher hart. that 28-foot section of pipe is being sent to washington, dc for a much more thorough analysis, including ten inches on each end of the pipe still in the ground will be cut off and shipped to washington to the metallurgy lab there. we will have much more in the newscast, including residents who lost everything get something much-needed help. a berkeley couple is attacked walking blocks away from their home. >> it turned into a just horrific tragedy. >> carolyn: the accident that brought highway 101 to a virtual standstill almost all day today. >> the persistent onshore flow kept the clouds hugging the get any phone free only at verizon when you buy the hot new samsung fascinate with its super amoled screen. get a free samsung intensity a free blackberry bold or any other phone in our lineup. don't miss out. offer ends soon. buy a samsung fascinate and any other phone is free. only at verizon. in >> carolyn: a huge mess on highway 101 along the peninsula today. for more than 12 hours d

. >> reporter: there you have christopher hart giving us the latest details into that investigation, the investigation of the 30-inch gas pipe that exploded thursday night in san bruno. part of that pipe is being sent to washington for investigation. meantime the investigators there looking at the area surrounding the pipe and what seismic activity could have happened that may have caused, may i should say, may have caused that explosion. but it's all speculation right now. while that investigation continues, we're learning more about one of the youngest victims of the explosion. 13-year-old janessa greg. she wasn't even supposed to be home that thursday night. she was killed along with her mom, who worked for the california public utilities commission. ironically jacqueline was working on plans to upgrade part of that pipeline just two miles from her home. >> reporter: janessa greg and her mother were well known and well loved at this catholic school. janessa was supposed to be at a game with her sister and father the night of the explosion but she felt like she had too much homewor

. [-- >> you're listening to the ntsb president, christopher hart, about -- talking about how one part of the investigation is over. they are moving to the second phase, which includes looking over documents at pg&e, interviewing witnesses. we'll have more on this later on in this newscast. >> there are so many stories coming out of last week's disaster, people would were barely able to escape the flames. at some point they escaped only from the -- because of the help from others. ktvu's john sasaki continues our coverage live from san bruno. john? >> reporter: we got word from the families who lost most, if not all, of interest belonging are back in the zone. there's four buses carrying a five-block area carrying the families to tour those homes. you can only imagine what these people are seeing, what they are thinking, what they are feeling as they pass by this destruction. earlier today, we found several members -- families with other stories. game and her kids and grandson still seem a bit dazed four days after this disaster. >> and i could feel the flames before i opened the door,

joining us with the latest on the investigation into the gasline explosion, christopher hart vice chairman of the national transportation safety board from san bruno, california this morning. mr. hart, good morning. >> good morning. >> i want to ask you, i know it's early in the investigation. but right now, what are the working theories about what caused this explosion to occur? >> we don't have any working theories yet. we just started the investigation yesterday. certainly struck by the violence and force of this event. we saw a large section of the 30-inch pipe blown out of the ground at least a car-lengths or two of the pipe blown out of the ground sitting on the street. it was amazing the violence and force of this event. >> we are getting reports from the community that people there smelled natural gas, they smelled a gas scent over the last week. do you have any sense, from the people on the ground, whether or not that's the case, have people been confirming those reports to you? >> we have heard those reports, as well, that is part of our investigative process, we'll be interviewi

christopher hart, the vice chairman of the ntsb joins me live to talk about the investigation. good morning and thanks for coming by. >> good morning. thanks for having me. >> it's early in the investigation, but is there anything conclusive about what caused this explosion so far? >> nothing conclusive at this time. it is early in the investigation. the investigators have decided that in order to do a more complete investigation, we need to shift the pieces of the pipe, the big 28-foot piece and about 10 feet on either end of that. those three pieces will be shipped back to washington for a more detailed examination. >> an interesting question is, is there any other at risk neighborhoods across the state? at risk for a similar explosion. there similar pipelines in other neighborhoods in the bay area, but places where this could be a high risk area and we need to look at those right now. >> this area is called category 3 which is a categorization based on not risk, but consequence determined by the population density and the number of houses along each linear mile of pipe withi

joined live now by the notice spokesman, christopher hart, where does the investigation stand?ece of the pipe are on the truck. we expect them to be looked at in washington at the metallurgy labs tomorrow. there is still quite a bit of work on site. we'll be doing a lot of witness interviewing. we have witnesses from pg&e, we have other witnesses. we requested people to respond to us on email and some of them we'll be following up w we'll be looking at the control and monitoring stations that control the flow of gas through this area. we'll be looking at the valves that flank this on either side. so we have quite a bit of work on site. >> reporter: many aspects -- the email aspects, we have been talking a little bit about that. you got about 90 e-mails. what kind of tips are you getting in from people who lived around the neighbor? >> only one of those reported smelling gas and calling pg&e two or three weeks ago and pg&e responded. the rest of them have been very help. things like providing video, things like talking about dead vegetation because dead vegetation can indicate a

. >> christopher hart, thank you for being with us live. you mentioned the governor coming out here today this afternoon to take a look for himself. terry mcsweeney, abc 7 news. >> terry, thank you. 6:03. national gas pipeline safety will be a very big topic in congress this morning. an east bay congressman says he'll be asking some tough questions in the wake of the san bruno fire. the previously scheduled hearing on pipeline safety begins at 7:00 this morning in washington. he'll ask the house transportation and infrastructure committee to focus on the san bruno fire as they question a dozen investigators about the safety of high-pressure gas lines in urban areas. >> it's 6:04. right now in san francisco, arson investigators are examining three suspicious car fires in three very different parts of the city. the first happened just before 11:30 near the rv park at scandal stick point. the second after 1:00 in the morning at 25th and harrison. the third happened 2:30 a.m. on the 1400 block of sell by. nobody was hurt at those fires. >> poli

. >> all right, christopher hart, we know you're busy and the report will be extensive and take a long time. thanks for joining us this morning. >> thank you for having me. >>> switching gears, the future of california's high-speed rail through the south bay could actually be up in the air, literally. >> yeah. city leaders are on track to approve an aerial railway through downtown. they had to debate between that and going underground. chris sanchez is live in san jose with a look at where that track would run. chris. >> reporter: good morning, brent and laura. i'm at the san jose deardon station and the question is will it go six stories above my head or below my feet. that's something the city of san jose staff is going to are can. they voted last night to discover the possibility of doing a 60-foot high aerial track instead of a tunnel along downtown san jose. i'm talking about the stretch of roadway between highway 87 and all ma street and where highway 87 connects with 280. some people say it would be loud and an eyesore but it could be a real money saver as well. >> i think the e

e-mail's only one person did report smelling gas but that is about three weeks ago, here is christopher hartsportation safety board talking about what they did when they went to the milpitas pg&e plant that supplies gas december and a neighbor. >> there is a black box that the modernization is to keep records, we'll look at those. will have the record not only of the event but proceeding the event so we can see if there's anything there that would help us determine the cause. >> in other words if there's record saying that we've lost pressure and tied a maybe there's a leak or maybe not? >> that is correct. >> and that's why you can see this activity here that is for the downside exploded nothing has been moved or rearranged since the gas line exploded it is still very busy, there's a chain like the ones down there all they're doing now is trying to reestablish cable and telephone service. as far as this investigation is concerned by the national transportation safety board it could take 12-14 months and even art admitted to me there's a chance they may never know what caused that gas line t