‘It’s a miracle we’re still alive,’ resident says
Three beachfront Santa Monica apartments were destroyed when a severed main gas line exploded Friday morning, but no one was injured.
A demolition crew working at 1317 Pacific Coast Highway accidentally cut a gas line, triggering an explosion at 9:41 a.m. that incinerated a one-story apartment and ruined a pair of two-story adjoining units, a Santa Monica Fire Department official said.
Several cars in the parking lot next to the scene caught fire and had to be extinguished.
Though officials couldn’t estimate the damage, a fire official said buildings along the beach typically go for about $1 million.
At noon, fire officials were still waiting for the gas company to turn off the gas main.
“The fire has been mostly extinguished,” said Jill Barnes, spokeswoman for the Santa Monica Fire Department, “except for around the exposed gas main.”
In less than two minutes the explosion had reduced the luxury apartment — whose occupants were not home — to nothing more than ash and rubble, witnesses said.
One resident said his wife — pregnant with twins — and their young child were just settling down for a nap when the explosion rocked their apartment, sending the couple running for their lives.
“My wife ran to the window and the building was completely engulfed in flames,” said Jim Devarennes. “There were people in there but they got out real quickly.”
“My wife ran to the window and the building was completely engulfed in flames. There were people in there but they got out real quickly.” — — JIM DEVARENNES Apartment resident
The south bound lanes of the PCH were closed by the California Highway Patrol so fire-fighters could access the buildings. Los Angeles Police officers re-routed traffic headed from Pacific Palisades.
The Red Cross was on scene to help the displaced residents and to give aid to firefighters as they battled the blaze.
Neighbors said their building shook violently from the blast and the roaring of the fire. The heat was so intense they said they were forced to flee to the beach until fire-fighters were able to secure the area.
“I didn’t know if it was an earthquake or a car from the highway had hit the house, but there was this intense shaking,” said one neighbor who declined to give his name. “The fire company came really quick and without them we would have lost a lot more I’m sure.”
Another resident whose home is less than 20 feet from where the gas main erupted said the fire incinerated a wall that used to divide the two properties.
“There used to be a wall right here,” said Mindy Lymperis. “When the gas main went the wall just disintegrated. It’s gone, it’s all gone.”
Lymperis said though her backyard tree caught fire, her home largely was unscathed. She said her guardian angel must have been watching over her when the gas main went up in flames.
“It’s a miracle we’re still alive,” she said. “It’s a miracle because we all could have been killed.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 2, 2002. Read the original PDF.