The Carnage Of San Bruno's Deadly Fire

Last night, as residents of the sleepy San Francisco suburb of San Bruno sat down to dinner, their world exploded in a fireball. Here's a closer look at the carnage.

San Bruno, a suburb about eight miles south of San Francisco, was rocked with a deadly explosion Thursday night at about 6:00 PM PST, that shot flames 100 feet into the air and engulfed dozens of homes. The fire, apparently fueled by a broken gas main, was so devastatingly loud, and the flames, so intense, many initially thought a plane had crashed into the neighborhood. That wasn't the case.

But it wasn't just lives (at least one is dead, with reports of potentially half a dozen others soon to be added to the toll) and homes lost (at least 53 homes, with damage to more than 100 more), it was also cars — as residents didn't even have time to grab the keys on their way out of their houses — choosing instead to flee on foot. The result? These sad images of a dystopian Terminator-like smoldering wreckage of cars, wagons and other assorted vehicles that didn't make it out of the fire alive.

Also, if you're interested in the particular difficulties of fighting a natural gas fire, check out this San Francisco Chronicle article.

Photo Credit: Max Whittaker / Getty Images News; Jeff Chiu / AP