the main focus today of the ntsb's investigation was the

of this disaster on many lives and on the property and in that regard and to say on behalf of the ntsb we extend our condolences to the families and friends of the victims of this tragedy. in addition to our investigators we have family assistance specialist from the ntsb office our transportation disaster system there on scene to provide assistance and support to family members of the victims of this incident. for the next few days our investigators will be working on scene to thoroughly document the accident site and gather factual information to do it they can to determine what happened. the purpose of us being here and the reason why were gathering this information is not to understand what happened and why it happened and ultimately we will end up with recommendations to try and prevent this thing same thing from happening in the future. we will not determine probable cause while we're on scene and we will not speculate about what may have caused the accident. we're also not here to determine if plant liability. we're here specifically to determine cause and we will do that and a

again ntsb is in charge of that. they have begun shipping evidence back to washington dc for closer scrutiny. one disaster expert we spoke with today says he already knows the likely cause of that pipeline rupture. >> out of sight out of mind. you don't see them they are under ground. it is very easy to kind of have a sense of security there,. >> reporter: he does research at berkly's center for cat traffic risk management. he said the cause of most pipeline explosions can be traced back to third party excavations, water, cable or some other company digging in the vicinity of the pipeline. >> that can either rupture it immediately or damage it or weaken the pipeline, overtime, due to service pressures on inside that pipe that it was more prone to fail and it was just a matter of time. a ticking bomb. >> we didn't see any excavation, no exempt at the time but will look at the history of it to see if overtime, excavation occurred that may have resulted. >>> the less likely cause but a possible one is corrosion. >> give

cause of this explosion again we know was the high pressure transmission line why it exploded the ntsb should give us some details or in terms of what they're doing to try and get those answers. in addition to that there are eight fire investigators run scene conducting our own investigation carried as you know fire officials went door-to-door today there were able to get through 75 percent of the homes. did a 25 percent or two hot that's what they told us earlier today it will be interesting to find out when to our officials have their news conference at 5:00 whether they'll be able to make it to those other homes. we can also tell you they've had a total of 25 fire companies doing the searching of these homes. still they've called in to urban search and rescue teams they see the debris is just kind of mammoth. they called to to urban search and rescue teams to help remove some of the debris so far officials can get in there and to their searching. another thing were expected to 5:00 news conference is the damage assessment. we should have some sort of dollar figure in terms of the am

the ntsb is act to hold it's first news conference. we listen live now at the scene. >> the investigation into the rupture and explosion and fire of the 30-inch natural gas line seamless carbon steel owned operated by pg and e. it happened a few minutes after six last night as you know and we just arrived on scene so we don't have much information yet. i went to the scene myself to see the devastation, to see the -- some excess of 170 houses so far that were engaged, either damaged or destroyed. we ar aware of -- responded to this with an eight member investigative team. the investigator in charge -- we have -- put together a team of investigators to look at a variety of areas. we started with the operations. we look at pipeline, the installation of the pipeline, operation, maintenance, history, the peak values of pressure that the pipeline can with stand and hit the history of what it did with stand, the safe guards to prevent over pressure in the pipeline, all aspects of the pipeline. we are forming a group to look at human factors.

>> the way it 2, is once the ntsb takes -- it works is once the ntsb takes control of the situation byederal law we are not really allowed to provide any information about the accident. >> reporter: cbs5 dug deeper and found the ntsb released a report in may showing the california public utilities commission investigated pg&e and uncovered still representatives were not properly trained in detecting leaks. so what does pg&e have to say? >> i think you'll have to talk to someone with more specific information about that than i have available today. >> reporter: who might that be? >> you'll have to talk to david eisenhauer. >> reporter: we did contact david eisenhauer but he has not returned our calls tonight. the ntsb goes on to say this that they are investigating whether the gas in the line was odorized prior to the explosion. meantime they are saying for anyone who smelled gas over the past few days or past few weeks, they're asking that you immediately contact local authorities, the ntsb want you interviewed to be a part of this investigation. >> robert lyles in san bruno with the v

we might get more clarification on the ntsb members during the news conference tonight at 9:00.y is here with more information on the homes that of been affected by it. the city of san bruno has a number of great resources on the web site including a listing of those homes that were affected by the fire. the take a look at the website right here they have a number of resources. a number for the emergency line information about the town hall meeting that's what did take place tomorrow and right here this is what you want to know. the listing will homes that were affected by the glenview fire once you click the link it will take you to a pds that list of homes that were destroyed. dozens of homes they happen on glenview, earl, claremont and, as their more pared most of them did take place on claremont rate here. they also list the ones that just had major damage to them. tool on here one in glenview one on claremont. one with minor damage. six of them with minor damage. we do have a link to this web site on www.kron4.com so if you put a www.kron4.com look for the city of san bruno

first we want to go out to that ntsb press conference. this is christopher heart updating us on the situation. >> excuse my vest. first i would like to talk about e-mails. we are starting to compile e- mails for people who have report of smelling gas and calling pg & e and what the response was. with almost 90 e-mail, only one of those e-mails reported that a person smelled gas, it was several weeks ago they called pg & e and they got a response for it. i would repeat that request that anybody who smelled gas contemporaneously and called pg & e we need to know about that. part of the reason we need to know about that is because that will be very helpful in our investigation. one of the things we're trying to find out, is, was the pipe, did it fail catastrophically or did it fail as a pinhole leak then meeting air and getting a spark from some place. if it failed catastrophically it means it's unlikely that there was a gas smell. if it failed by virtue of a leak then having a spark, then there would be smell of gas. so that is a very impor

the chairman of the ntsb said metro is safer now than it was back in 2009. metro has made significant safety improvements in the year following a collision that left nine dead. that the word from the national transportation safety board. >> they have done a lot of learning in the last year plus, and i think that always every organization is going to go through a difficult time after an accident. the question is how you react to that accident and what changes you make. and i believe that the metro board was very willing to listen to the safety board after our report was concluded. and they have taken many of those lessons to heart. and i think they're beginning to make many improvements that have been long overdue. >> reporter: in an update to congress, ntsb said metro impmented more than a dozen safety improvements they recommended and is moving in the right direction. e anemic safe culture set the stage for the crash. improvements include putting a new and experienced safety officer in place. he reports directly to the germ manager. metro has filled a dozen

the ntsb is out here this morning. we're getting more information about where this investigation is headed. key among the question is how did this start, obviously and why did it burn so long? let's talk about the cause. the ntsb has been asking for anyone to come forward if they smelled gas in the days leading up to the explosion. there have been about 90 e- mails sent to the ntsb. but the ntsb said they only had one person who smelled gas and that was two or three weeks before this happened. if they didn't smell gas, that would be a clue. >> if people smell gas in advance, that suggests a failure, where gas is coming out and people smell it. that's a different kind of failure than a catastrophic failure. that would help us determine the cause of this explosion. that's why that's so crucial to us. >> reporter: there's also the focus this morning on how long this fireball burned. did it burn lodger than necessary -- longer than necessary? some are asking if pg&e should have had automatic shutoff valves. >> what actuall

i know you were talking with the ntsb earlier. they have no record of anyone calling in if someone called in and remembered doing so, they should be contacting the ntsb so they can continue and know more about that. >> absolutely. they definitely wanted to hear from people and they will be in the neighborhood trying to interview folks. if you other than something or saw something, we are following the recovery all day long. tune in tonight at 5:00 and 6:00 for everything you may have missed while at work today. >> trying to recover over major delays. we want to get the latest from mike. >> so far we don't hear of progress or changes. major delays is all they are saying. major delays up into the city and over to richmond or the pittsburgh station. it might be a ripple effect. upwards of over 30 minutes for the folks. equipment problems are to blame. right now we have a sigalert that we reported over the area. this is a typical spot, but heavier than normal. all lanes are cleared, but the slow down started and that will continue int

the ntsb gives credit for making progress. the system implemented a dozen safety recommendations since the crash. >> they have done a lot of learning in the last year plus. and i think always every organization is going to go thugh a difficult time after an accident. the question is how you react to that accident and what changes you make and i believe that the metro board was very willing to liste to the safety board after our report was concluded. they have taken man of those lessons to heart. and i think they're beginning to make many improvements that have been long overdue. >> reporter: and that includes putting a new and experienced saty officer in place. that safety officers reports to theanager. they have filled 12 vacancies and jobs. you can call and anonymously report safety proems. metro is moving forward to replace the 1000 series cars, the cars that crunched in the crash, folded up like accordions. new cars will hit the system in about 2013. interim manager agrees metro is moving in the right direction, that it is

ntsb investigators, what exactly are they going to be doing? are they out there on the scene shifting through ashes? >> yesterday we visited the milpitas control station that controls the flow of gas. today we'll be visiting other control stations as well as looking at the valves that immediately adjacent to this site that needed to be closed will be also starting the interviewing of witnesses. >> real briefly, at the milpitas flow station, what are you looking at there? >> we want to get excruciating detail how the system works, how well the people are trained who work it, their background and experience, all aspects of what happened day. we'll do an exhaustive look at the details. >> 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

the ntsb said a twet-foot piece of pipe launched out of the frowned has several wells in it. pg&e welded it together because it needed to curve to fit the terrain and one weld may have failed. >> one of the welds was the clean break end of the pipe where the -- you could see a very distinct clean break and we will be looking to see if that was a defect. the other end was torn and shredded and much less clean. >> the ntsb said their work in the crater is done. they will interview witnesses and review the stream of documents from pg&e. lots of people said they reported the smell of gas in the days before the explosion and called it in, but so far the ntsb has not been able to find proof that actually happened. investigators back at work this morning, taking a electric at pipelines in san bruno. live in san bruno with what's going on this morning. good morning, bob. >> good morning, scott. what we are hearing is that the california public utilities commission is now saying they will most likely conduct their own hearing into the explosion that happened down the street from me he

ntsb gathering up big pieces of evidence will lead them to the cause of the blast.n while resting fears anyone may have it will be a year and- a-half before they get any information. the ntsb saying as soon as they learn information they will pass it on >> reporter: prime evidence is a 28-foot southbound of the high pressure gasoline itself ripped out of the ground and tossed through the air a hundred feet by the blast. >> 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 the investigators have decided that needs to go back to our metallurgy labs in washington. >> reporter: investigators want to hear from people who say they smelled gas in the weeks before the blast. jose valve practice do told julie watts he smelled it and he thinks pg&e knew it. >> what do you say when pg&e says we never received any calls about gas. >> that's a lie. because you can smell and then as the guy was walking around there. >> reporter: presumably looking for leaks. but alvarado admits he doesn't know what the pga work

the ntsb will interview residents and other witnesses. they said it has received reports from people who live in the area about the smell of gas in the days leading up to the explosion, but so far they have not been able to find evidence that someone notified pg&e or 911 about this. live in an bruno, bob redell at the bay. >> friends and neighbors are working to build each other up. people like harley are dealing with a lot. his friend and their parents have not been found. he is among a group of people now looking for this family. >> it's unnerving because i want to know what happened to my friend or if they are there and they were lost in the system and remains have not been found. we have hope that they are okay. >> william, greg, andula von have not been found. they were members of the presbyterian church and church members have also joined the search for them. >> survivors are getting their first looks at their destroyed or damaged homes. police led bus loads of victims in on monday. they say there were a lot of tears on board. famil

meanwhile today, the ntsb spent the day checking out that crater left behind and the pipeline.estigators say the pipe blew 100 feet away from its original position. here's what they are really curious about -- it's made up of small segments of piping. they say they are not sure why. and that will be a new piece of this puzzle to investigate. >> there are lots of reason to have segmented pipe like this. that's one of the reasons we're exploring is why this pipe segmented. it's more expensive to have segmented pipes than unsegmented pipes. we'll be looking into that why that occurred. >> the ntsb is still trying to figure out when pg&e last inspected the pipelines. and for the first time, neighbors had a chance to sound off to bay area leaders. here's what happened at a town hall meeting. >> reporter: people came to demand answers, like when do they get back in to their homes? pg&e told the people it would stand by them and it would never abandon san bruno. 271 homes in the damaged area have been off limits since the blast. by noon tomorrow, those whose homes are not damaged are

the ntsb will begin interviewing residents and others. they received reports of people who live here that they smelled gas in the days leading up to the explosion, but so far the ntsb said they don't have documented reports like calls to 911 or calls into pg&e of people complain being a smell of gas. live here in san bruno, today in the bay. >> amazing to see the video again and again. we turn to chris sanchez who is also live in san bruno. you have stung details on a proposal that is bound to upset a lot of people. >> in the last couple of days since the disaster, we have seen pg&e step up to the plate, promising homeowners who were affected $50,000 and the city $3 million to repair streets and what not, no strings attached. whatever good will they get from that response could be under cut by a discussion in san francisco today. the public utilities commission is talking about creating a fund for disasters like the here, but funded by rate payers themselves. they are calling it a wildfire expense balancing account. whatever the name, the

another big challenge and another part of the ntsb investigation. now, i mentioned if you have any tips for them' supposed to email them. sanbruno@ntsb.gov. i'm going to be speaking with a spokesman from the ntsb at 5:30 this morning. if you have any questions that you would like me to ask him, please email them right now to us at mornings@cbs5.com. >> some amazing stories from those firefighters. anne, thanks very much. anne makovec in san bruno. >>> well, moments after the explosion, a local man grabbed a cell phone and started recording. walter mccaffrey says the blast knocked him off his feet. but after making sure that his family was out of the house, he called 911 and then he grabbed his cell phone and took this video. he was not injured. >>> the coroner has identified a fourth victim. 81-year-old elizabeth torres was home watching the football game on tv when the pipeline blew. torres lived with her daughter, one of her nine children. her son-in-law suffered severe burns trying to rescue her. also among the dead, jackie grieg and her 13-year-

. >> reporter: ntsb investigators met with pg and e.hey said it will take time to figure out why a neighborhood was leveled. the explosion launched a huge piece of ruptured fuel pipe out of the ground. ntsb investigators say the blast had to have tremendous force. >> it is really quite amazing to see this huge piece of pipeline blown the distance that it was blown -- above the ground and out onto the street. >> reporter: the 30-inch pipeline was installed in 1956. it may tell investigators why it ruptured. they planned to send part of it to a lab in washington for analysis. four people died in the inferno that followed the rupture. we have learned 44-year-old jack lien grieg and her daughter and 20-year-old jessica morales did not survive. 52 people were injured. seven are hospitalized with critical burn injuries. four firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation. firefighters say there are still three homes left to search. if the areas are cool enough tomorrow, canine crews will finish the search for additional victims. we for you ha

ntsb investigators expected to be back out today. they met with pg&e for some time and asked for extensive records about the pipeline. we also wanted to mention when we were coming here this morning we saw about a half dozen urban search and rescue trucks going into that devastation zone. we should say the firefighters tell us there are still three homes left to search if it's cool enough dogs may be back out there looking for more victims today. the toll now, four people died in this natural gas pipeline explosion and inferno. 52 injured, seven hospitalized with critical burns. the 30-inch gas pipeline was installed in 1956 and investigators will send part of that to washington, d.c. to be analyzed. investigators say the answers that everyone wants to know which is why did this explode, that may take time but here's insight into what they are looking at. >> they will be looking at the history of this pipeline from the installation in 1956 through today, they will look historically at excavations because there's always a possibility

the ntsb will make public as it moves along.pposed to waiting until the investigation is complete. for all those that are concerned about is it safe to move back into the neighborhood. these questions will be answered as soon as they are received by ntsb >> she will be holding a town hall meeting for the resident affected she will discuss the investigation and try to answer questions from the audience. that will be held at 8:00 p.m. tonight at the church of the highlands is a member know. on- air coverage continues online we continue to welcome the photo and video from viewers. we have blanks from everything from their red cross to how to get ahold of investigators. that is that kron more on the gas line explosion president barack obama calling governors schwarzenegger to offere. state regulators ordering pga need to inspect gas lines in the state. san bruno gas line was categorized as high risk because it ran for a highly populated area. >> look at this surveillance video. people did not know what it was they were running out r

earlier today we got a briefing from the ntsb which investigates pipeline accidents. pg&e had now way to automatically shut off the gas once the pipe run pureed, and the pipeline contained a number of seams, including one that ran lengthwise around the pipe. right away, federal investigators noticed something curious about the pipeline that blew out of the ground. i was not sol split -- solid and seemless. it was segments welded together. >> there are lots of reasons to have segmented pipes like this, and that's what they're exploring. it's obviously more expensive to have segments pipes than unsegmented pipes. >> reporter: the ntsb confirms that pg&e had manual valves on either side of the break, not automatic valves to stop the flow of gas. the pipeline that exploded was mauled in 1956 when there were fewer homes here. because the area is so heavily populated now. the public utilities designated the pipeline high risk. >> increases in our estimation the need to look at that issue of whether there should be automatic shutoff valves when there's a massive leak in the

the ntsb is looking at how those recommendations were followed. and again there is also this issue of was there a gas smell. they have been asking the public.com come forward, to e- mail them, to call them, to give them any information about anything they might have smelled or seen in the days leading up to this explosion. if no one smelled gas or no one reports smelling gas in those days that may be credit cam to determining how all this happened and we will talk about that more in detail coming up. claudine wong, ktvu channel 2 news. >> we are hearing from the first firefighters and police officers on the scene. some of those first responders are sharing their painful stories of the pipe explosion disaster for the first time describing what it is like to race into the middle of an inferno. >> we were left heapless and we could only go so far pause the wire wooer was just so incredibly intensely hot and beyond anything i could describe so it was a helpless feeling knowing there were people we could not get to. >> in all more than fur hundred fire

that is the word from the ntsb as well as the city manager. ntsb now in charge of the investigation. tomorrow 6 more teams of dogs will go into the fire zone. this is now considered a recovery effort. not a rescue mission. still officials insist no resident are missing. there are several reasons why people can not go home tonight. authorities say the streets and buildings are still unstable plus a lot of homes have no utility meaning no pow power, water or gas and on top of everything there is a sewage problem to deal with. there is still a lot of unanswered questions an resident feel caught in the middle. >> also forming a group to look at the human factor aspect all the people who amount the pipeline will be looking at the experience, tra experience, training, history, g at the whether they have alcohol and test to drm the condition at the time. >> police are at every intersection on every street to prevent anybody from going in. so we were told if we leave we are not coming back. it could be a couple of days. >>reporter: the red cross just

with the current ntsb investigation he is restricted on telling us specific details.r jeff, the pg&e working crews are out there? when a they doing? >> we can hear you. >> and what we're doing is that i know the there has been questions in respect to when electric, gas services will be restored to the area. what we are going to do is there are 300 customers, approximately without electricity and 30 sir without gasoline. was regain full access, we will restore full service. hopefully, by the end of the weekend but again that is dependent on it would contain access and the reason why we're up there is to perform those duties. once were able to gain full access to the area. jeff, pg&e donated $1 million to the relief fund. i also heard that there's a $1 billion insurance policy that pg&e is not sure could be enough is that correct? >> actually, that would fall under the category of the investigation. and that is unfortunate, nothing that i am able to discuss at this point in time. >> and jeff, back to the working crews were you >> we can hear you. >> where are you? >> we

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

ntsb investigators are looking for wear on the metal and corrosion on the inside and outside of the pipe. that pipeline was more than 50 years old. another factor sure to be discussed today, pix track record. it apparently has six times more leaks than other large utilities. pg&e says it's because the company's testing standards are more regular russ than others. we'll monitor that throughout the newscast and let you know what develops. >> thank you. >>> a young oakland girl is recovering in the hospital this afternoon after she was shot in her home. 6-year-old leslie ramirez was sleeping in her bedroom when someone opened fire on her house off seminary avenue. family members say that she was hit in the upper arm and then the bullet then lodged in her chest. there appear to be about 20 budget holes in the house in the windows there. authorities believe there were multiple gunmen and that the shooting was gang-related. >> we were all sleeping and i heard like a lot of gunshots and then i woke up and i heard my mom crying and screaming and she had my little sister. >> police say that the l

prior to the ntsb and now that they are here they have taken responsibility for the investigation. >> reporter: because they have stepped in you can't give us information about possible leaks? >> the way it work social security once the ntsb takes control of the situation, by federal law we are not really allowed to provide any information about the accident. >> reporter: we dug deeper found the ntsb released a report in may showing the california public utilities commission investigated the company and found representatives weren't propererly trained in detecting leaks. what does the company have to say? >> i think you will have to talk to someone with more specific information than i have available today. >> reporter: who is that? >> have you to talk to davi >> reporter: so i did. in fact is he another spokesperson for pg and e. he said tonight he is vaguely familiar with that report identitying that crews were not trained in detecting gas leaks but he was supposed to call us back before air time. we have yet to receive a call. we should also update for those affected by the explosi

we can talk to the ntsb investigators for you.l tell you about it coming up in one minute. >> also in the headlines, toyota admits to a software plug in a device crucial to determining the causes of sudden acceleration in some of its most popular vehicles. >> we'll see a little acceleration in temperatures but that warm air is causing a little drizzle and cloud cover. where that is heaviest and where we're going to find rain. >> you'll uncounter that as you head into san francisco. pretty quiet this morning. live shot of the oakland maze. traffic flowing well on all the freeways at this point. >> new report out this morning says california's economy is slowly beginning to grow but a turn-around is still several months away. it's a wednesday, 5:30. thanks for joining us, i'm kristen sze. >> i'm eric thomas. developing news out of san bruno where national transportation safety board investigators have a better handle how many residents reported a natural gas smell before last week's explosion. our terry mcsweeney just spoke with an

the ntsb has been examining the chart pieces.ough they have more questions than answers ringel, they're beginning to get a bit of a picture of just how bad this explosion was. >> gathered in the rubble of the homes destroyed by thursday's explosion, investigators began the process of finding out why happen. >> today we did a lot of measuring, this really emphasize the magnitude of what occurred here. >> assigned tons of natural gas pipeline to los ground with such force that landed a hundred feet away. blastoff be had a greater hotter to do something along 26 d wide. roughly demands of a one the size swimming pool. >> devlin known because the soil of the bottom of the crater is unstable. >> fife itself measured 28 ft. long, though they initially thought was solid piece of metal, they discovered it is up to a patchwork of smaller segments melted together. >> we need to dig deeper to to determine why they're repeat smaller segments of pipe on his 28 ft. piece of pie. >> investigators is surely to guess, but they do know is that the

pg&e plans to and will fully cooperate with the ntsb in the investigation process providing all records as well as making available any resources individuals to be interviewed, etc., so we can determine the cause of this particular incident. mayor newsom: again, it is premature to perhaps discuss a response to the question, but what is your assessment in terms of the investigation? it is really difficult to say. i would expect that this is a process that will probably take several months before it is probably finally concluded, and before we have a real sense of what perhaps the actual route cause was to this particular event. i recognize there is a sense of urgency to try to better understand what caused this event, but again, we are going to work through the process with the ntsb. we are going to fully cooperate with them, and as our president of the utility indicated in some of the interviews that were conducted earlier today, to the extent that it is determined that we have liability or responsibility here, we plan to be accountable for that if in fact that is what the investigation

pg&e says it will turn its records over to the ntsb's investigation. but the "associated press" claims the pipeline through the san bruno neighborhood was termed high risk because it ran through a densely populated area. and the ntsb says it will not produce its report for 12 to 18 months. >> to me that's unacceptable but we'll get reports as we move forward. that's why i'm going to the route of the public utilities commission. >> reporter: lieutenant governor maldonado is also asking for review of pipelines statewide and jackie speier will lean on the ntsb for quicker reports. >> we can't rush science. we can certainly ask for and demand that we get regular informational briefings on what they have found to date. >> reporter: another news conference is scheduled here at the bayhill shopping center, which is acting kind of like incident command for the media. that news conference tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. and we should learn then whether or not people will actually he got get into their homes. they will find out who these people are, they will have to iden

meanwhile, the next rotati ntsb has on its way to washington d.c. for further investigation. and state regulators have ordered pg&e to test all of their natural gas lines. most residents have been able to return. but, there are still residents that are waiting and they have homes that have either been completely destroyed. they want to sift through what is left or others are severely damaged and have a red text. the death is at four. -read attack. >> the human remains have been on site of the explosion and three people are still missing tonight. kron4's kate thompson joins us from san bruno. the command center. >> we are here, too. the latest from investigators. you can see the media lined up and ready. to hear from the national transportation safety board and that is heading up this investigation on the ground. in the san bruno. there has been three full days of investigations at this point. investigators said yesterday that they plan on being here for at least one more day. the big revelation they told us about, yesterday was that the investigators have not been able to con

>> ntsb investigators out here on the scene again today.e're going to be talking to them live in half an hour but they want to know exactly what it was that caused that explosion and, as you mentioned, what took so long to turn off the gas line. ntsb will look into the line. it does not have automatic shutoshut valve that close. this one from 1956 did not have them. as a result pg&e crews had to shut off the gas by hand and that took close to two hours. >> the two valves on both sides of this event about a mile away are out. they have to be turned manually to be turned off. >> the san bruno fire chief says the initial blast is responsible for the vast majority of devastation. after what caused the initial gas leak, investigators are out here to figure that out. and, again, after all the reports of people saying that they smelled gas out here days, weeks before the explosion, now we're getting word as you mentioned that 90 e-mails came in. one reported that there was a gas smell. and pg&e apparently responded to that. now, those are e-mails.

the ntsb has been busy investigating this since the explosion happened last thursday.ere a gas leak in the neighborhood prior to the explosion? was it reported to the proper authorities? were the shutoff valves functioning and accessible? what were the pressure levels in the pipe before it burst? the ntsb has visited terminals to find out how high the pressure was and they are investigating the people who worked at that terminal saying the information they are gathering is like an airplane's black box. the "mercury news" is reporting this morning pg&e has yet to reply to not lowering the pressure by 25%. there was a vigil last night for the mother and daughter killed in the explosion. people gathered at saint cecilia catholic church to remember jacqueline grieg and her 13-year-old daughter. >> daughter janessa was the class president. >> sometimes it seems like everything is going wrong. there are days when our days plummet and others when it soars. in today's society, there is so much wrong and so much evil. there are people being dishonest, or making choices to only

while the ntsb has seen progress, how about riders? >> i think it's pretty safe. we haven't heard of any incidents recently. >> reporter you think they have improve >> i don't see any evidence. we haven't had a major catastrophe, but it doesn't feel like one is coming down the pipe? >> reporter: you don't feel they have made significant improvements? >> i don't. >> reporter: the general manager says we still have a long way to go. in northwest, megan mcgrath, news 4. >>> you may want to plan some extra time if you're making metro this weekend, expect half hour delays on parts of the orange, blue, yellow and green lines. trains on the orange line will be single trackingto vie ena and the west fal church stations. on the blue and yellow lines you'll be facing between the pentagon city and braddock road stations. there will also be blue line delays between fran konya, and at least 20 minute toss yocommu. >>> we're looking outside. it's 91 degrees. can you believe it's 91? the candar reads fall, tom. >> that calendar is directly in the sin, so it's kind of deceptive,

they are asking anyone who smelled gas or who filed a report to contact the ntsb by email. you will find that email address on our website, ktvu.com. reporting live in san bruno, maureen naylor, ktvu channel 2 news. >> san bruno's mayor said that he does not think a 2008 sewer project in the area of the explosion was a factor in the deadly blast. records show 1600 feet of aging sewer pipes were replaced in mave 2008 on earl avenue from sneath lane to glenview drive. the work crossed the gas pipeline at the location of the blast and while the method crews used can cause ground shake and disrupt nearby soil and o-pg&e says inspections after the work revealed no problems. >>> well for some of the fire victims tonight is their first night back in their home following that devastating fire and explosion. , but as kutv's diane guerazzi reports, the wait continues for others. >> reporter: hundreds of fire victims gathered this morning, picking up wristbands and parking permits that they hoped would be their tickets back to the homes that they fled thursday night. the deafening exp

the ntsb wants to know why. >> not necessarily repair. there are lots of reasons to have segmented pipe and that's -- it's obviously more expensive to have segmented pipe. we will be looking into why that occurred. >> the ntsb determined they had manual valves, not automatic valves. the pipeline was installed in 1956 when there were fewer homes here. because the area is so heavily populated now, the public utilities commission designated the pipeline high risk. >> that certainly increases in our estimation the need to look at that issue whether there should be automatic shutoff valves when there's some kind of massive leak which would be signalled by a pressure drop. >> the latest measurement shoals the crater left by the blast to be 167 feet long and 26 feet wide. the soil is too unstable to determine how deep it is. pg&e now says it started inspecting three major gas transmission lines in the peninsula. senator barbara boxer is calling on state and federal regulators to accelerate their inspections of pipelines statewide. >> there could

. >> reporter: that news conference was with the ntsb. we are talk about that. we are expecting another conference to happen any moment now. it looks lickety may be walking up to the microphone right now. that's jim allen with the office of emergency services. he is about to make an announcement but i'm not sure i see some of the participants of the press conference walking up. let's talk about what we heard earlier this morning in a press briefing. that's what they announced a four deaths and injuries to -- rather 52 patients in the hospital. that was according to the county. that number could change in this conference. i see the acting governor walking to the microphone. let's take this press conference now. >> as we wind down the day and its been a long day for us, i want to start by saying that 24 hours ago we had a major explosion and a fire here. we are still at 37 destroyed homes, 7minor and moderate homes damaged. as of now we still have four deaths. law is still looking at the missing person reports to help us if are anymore deaths. we have done our pre

and to work with the ntsb, how much time will have a do it and will be a minimum, elite survey. >> and the three main lines that go into the peninsula have already been inspected. pg&e has already reduced the pressure on those lines by 10 percent as an added safety precaution. reporting live, christine connolly. >> state regulators have ordered pg&e to investigate all of their gas lines. this is a map running through the entire state of california and not all of these are high-pressure lines like the one that exploded in the san bruno on thursday. you can see a major, natural gas lines run to this bay area. san francisco, daly city, all along the peninsula through san bruno. all of these left to be inspected by pg&e. we asked pg&e for a map of their high-pressure gas lines and yet to return a call. >> stay with kron 4 with continuing coverage of the gas line explosion. in the aftermath. and had to our website. if www.kron.com with a special section with much more information we will be right back. but what really happened? cnn -- not me -- cnn says his assertion about his tax record wa

well, we are heari from the ntsb that they have checked the e-mls going into pg&e.here was actually one report weeks before the blast, someone smelling gas out here and pg&e did respond to that. as far as phone calls to pg&e, that is going to be part of the investigation and ntsb investigators say they're gog to be out here for probably anoth week. live in s bruno, terry mcsweeney, abc 7 news. >> terry, thanks a lot for that incredible rescue story but not everybody was so fortunate. in decisi to the four killed in the blast eight othe are stillin two bay area hospital being treate for burns. four of the patients are listed as critical, three serious and one is in fair condition. they're at least all stable and showing signs of recovering. >> the obama administration is now seeking tighter oversight of the natn's pipelines as stronger penalts for violations of the pipeline safety rules transportation secretaryay la hood submitted the legislation to congress following the san bruno blast and several other pipeline accidents. meantime east bay congressman requested co

. >> carolyn: the ntsb has just begun its latest news briefing. let's listen in. >> i mentioned previously a 28-foot section of pipe that was blown out of the ground thrown 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 the investigators have decided that needs to go back to our metallurgy labs in washington for study. so we are removing that piece of the pipe, putting that in place. in addition to that, the pieces adjacent to that piece on either end for about ten feet on either end, we cut those pieces away from the pipe today. we did excavation work through the night to excavate further cut those additional pieces of the pipe and those three pieces of pipe, the center 28 feet that blew away plus the ten or so feet on either side will be crated and returned to washington dc for detailed examination in our metallurgy lab. so we did that with the intent of completing the site work as soon as possible so that the infrastructure can be ret

the ntsb says that after a gas explosion in san francisco in the '80s, they made a recommendation. they are not sure it was followed. >> make sure that the first responders know where the valves are and know what to do and make sure the valves still work. >> reporter: while that goes on off site, police say they are concerned about looting in this area and before opening up the neighborhood, they may fence off the destroyed profits as they fenced off the crater created when little pieces of pavement were thrown blocks away like this one that ripped up one family's lawn as it landed. >> now it came all the way up you can how broke they are. and the land over there, down there. we are lucky the topsoil is good. >> reporter: what's it like for you to look out and see the devastation? >> whew. we we are lucky the wind was blowing that way out of the way all those they are going to go, too. >> reporter: now, the city wants to make sure that everyone who was not as lucky as that couple will get a chance to go through their own rubble before this neighborhood is opened up. it's almost bee

we don't know how long it is going to be but the ntsb said yesterday they think it will be at least a week. pg&e working on some of its power lines down there and we did just get identification of the fourth person confirmed dead in this explosion. 81-year-old elizabeth torres. several people are still unaccounted for this afternoon. >> when we hear news of another loss in our community, it's like losing afamily member. >> reporter: christine. >> he nene any doesn't not woman who was just confirmed to have died in thursday night's explosion and fire. but that doesn't matter to her. >> you don't have to know them by name. you just know they live in your neighborhood, that you won't see them again. >> reporter: talking to neighbors this morning, it's clear that the grief and fear in this neighborhood will take a long time extinguish. >> we have to pray. >> reporter: pg&e has assured people their homes are safe but there are new fears about natural gas pipe lines all over california. this pipe manage website which we have a link to on cbs5.com has been overloaded for days. fears over a c