Ralph Lauren Victim of San Fran 'Splosion
From the Sacremento Union:
San Francisco Explosion Probed
The Associated Press
Published: August 22, 2005
SAN FRANCISCO—A fiery explosion from an underground utility chamber in the downtown shopping district Friday critically burned a pedestrian, sent a manhole cover flying and shattered windows at a Polo Ralph Lauren clothing store, authorities said.
The cause was still under investigation, but authorities have ruled out terrorism and have pinpointed the explosion’s source to an underground electric transformer maintained by Pacific Gas & Electric.
“There were no traces of a bomb or anything like that,” said San Francisco Fire Department Capt. Peter Howes. “It was some sort of accident.”
The explosion occurred shortly before 10 a.m. in the middle of a busy shopping district.
Sprinklers doused a flaming awning outside the store as panicked workers were evacuated from skyscrapers, stores and buildings around the Crocker Galleria area, Howes said.
“All of a sudden there was a big, big, big boom and the lights flickered off,” said Ellen, who joined other workers in a smoky stairwell as she made her way to the street from the 28th floor above the Ralph Lauren store. She wouldn’t give her last name, but said she worked for Charles Schwab.
“I thought it was a bomb,” she said. “It was very scary.”
The blast came from a vault that houses four Pacific Gas & Electric Co. transformers fed by a 34,000-volt electrical cable, said company spokesman Paul Moreno.
“We know a transformer failed,” Moreno said. “But what caused the transformer to explode is still under investigation.”
No utility workers were present when the explosion buckled a sidewalk and shot a manhole cover 25 feet across the street, according to Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White.
Two police officers on patrol nearby heard the explosion and fire and police response to the incident was swift, evacuated office workers said. Hundreds of police, firefighters, city officials, including Mayor Gavin Newsom, and federal authorities responded to the explosion.
“It seemed like it was an earthquake,” said Nancy Yaosovac, who works on the 19th floor of a building directly across the street from the blast.
The rest is here:
http://sacunion.com/pages/california/articles/5978
San Francisco Explosion Probed
The Associated Press
Published: August 22, 2005
SAN FRANCISCO—A fiery explosion from an underground utility chamber in the downtown shopping district Friday critically burned a pedestrian, sent a manhole cover flying and shattered windows at a Polo Ralph Lauren clothing store, authorities said.
The cause was still under investigation, but authorities have ruled out terrorism and have pinpointed the explosion’s source to an underground electric transformer maintained by Pacific Gas & Electric.
“There were no traces of a bomb or anything like that,” said San Francisco Fire Department Capt. Peter Howes. “It was some sort of accident.”
The explosion occurred shortly before 10 a.m. in the middle of a busy shopping district.
Sprinklers doused a flaming awning outside the store as panicked workers were evacuated from skyscrapers, stores and buildings around the Crocker Galleria area, Howes said.
“All of a sudden there was a big, big, big boom and the lights flickered off,” said Ellen, who joined other workers in a smoky stairwell as she made her way to the street from the 28th floor above the Ralph Lauren store. She wouldn’t give her last name, but said she worked for Charles Schwab.
“I thought it was a bomb,” she said. “It was very scary.”
The blast came from a vault that houses four Pacific Gas & Electric Co. transformers fed by a 34,000-volt electrical cable, said company spokesman Paul Moreno.
“We know a transformer failed,” Moreno said. “But what caused the transformer to explode is still under investigation.”
No utility workers were present when the explosion buckled a sidewalk and shot a manhole cover 25 feet across the street, according to Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White.
Two police officers on patrol nearby heard the explosion and fire and police response to the incident was swift, evacuated office workers said. Hundreds of police, firefighters, city officials, including Mayor Gavin Newsom, and federal authorities responded to the explosion.
“It seemed like it was an earthquake,” said Nancy Yaosovac, who works on the 19th floor of a building directly across the street from the blast.
The rest is here:
http://sacunion.com/pages/california/articles/5978
posted by Johnny at 9:54 AM
1 Comments:
Man, what a headline! I thought Ralph was really hurt! phew! You really had me there. Now I know that next years RL fancy boxer line will come out on time!
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