Gas explosion in San Francisco Bay Area damages homes, 6 taken to hospitals

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A gas explosion set off a major fire in a San Francisco Bay Area neighborhood on Thursday after obliterating at least one home, blowing out windows and shaking nearby houses. Six people were taken to hospitals for injuries, fire officials said.

Dramatic video footage showed a home in the Hayward area sitting under a blue sky when it suddenly exploded, spewing jagged wood and other debris into the air as smoke billowed.

“We were sitting in the house and it just ... everything shook. Stuff fell off the walls and when we looked at the camera it was like you were watching a war video,” said Brittany Maldonado, who lives across the street from the home that exploded and provided the Nest doorbell cam footage to ABC7 News.

Alameda County Deputy Fire Chief Ryan Nishimoto said he did not know if those injured were workers or residents, but he said three people were immediately sent to a hospital due to their injuries and three others who were sent had more minor injuries.

Three structures on two separate lots were severely damaged, said Alameda County Deputy Fire Chief Ryan Nishimoto. Some of the 75 firefighters who responded had to back off momentarily when they felt electric shocks from power lines that had fallen on the site.

The neighborhood of single-level homes with tidy small lawns and some businesses near two freeways had been undergoing construction work for wider sidewalks and bike lanes.

The explosion occurred in the unincorporated community of Ashland, near the city of Hayward. The city is home to about 160,000 residents in the East Bay, 15 miles (24 km) south of Oakland.

The National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday it is sending a team to investigate.

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. was alerted around 7:35 a.m. that a construction crew — not with the utility — had damaged an underground gas line. Utility workers arrived to isolate the damaged line, but gas was leaking from various locations.

Workers stopped the flow of gas at 9:25 a.m., and the explosion followed shortly afterward.

Gas was flowing for two hours but the explosion happened 10 minutes after the line was shut off, PG&E spokesperson Tamar Sarkissian confirmed. She said it took time to isolate the line and stop the flow of gas.

The doorbell video showed a large excavator being used to dig in front of the home that exploded as a worker stood nearby.

Within moments, an explosion and flames blew out the walls and the roof of the home. People nearby appeared to be dazed for a few seconds, before running toward the home to search for any victims. Several workers lifted a large piece of debris from where it landed near the excavator.

Sirens could be heard in the distance as police arrived at the scene as flames began to spread at the site of the demolished building.

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Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, Julie Watson in San Diego and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Alameda County Police Officers and Search and Rescue access the aftermath at the site of the explosion on the 800 block of East Lewelling Boulevard, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Hayward, Calif. (AP Photo/Minh Connors)

Damage is seen at the scene of a gas explosion in Hayward, Calif., Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Damage is seen after a gas explosion Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Hayward, Calif. (AP Photo/Minh Connors)

Alameda County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue teams work the scene after a gas explosion Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Hayward, Calif. (AP Photo/Minh Connors)

Damage is seen at the scene of a gas explosion in Hayward, Calif., Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Steve Camp, of San Leandro, observes the site of a gas explosion in a neighborhood, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Hayward, Calif. (AP Photo/Minh Connors)

A police officer talks with residents effected from the gas explosion on the 800 block of East Lewelling Boulevard, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Hayward, Calif. (AP Photo/Minh Connors)

Alameda County Fire Deputy Chief Ryan Nishimoto addresses the media at the site of a gas explosion on the 800 block of East Lewelling Boulevard, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Hayward, Calif. (AP Photo/Minh Connors)

Charred remains of a structure at the site of a gas explosion in a neighborhood, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Hayward, Calif. (AP Photo/Minh Connors)

First responders and Pacific Gas & Electric Co. workers at the site of a gas explosion in a neighborhood, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Hayward, Calif. (AP Photo/Minh Connors)

First responders and Pacific Gas & Electric Co workers at the site of the explosion on the 800 block of East Lewelling Boulevard, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Hayward, Calif. (AP Photo/Minh Connors)

First responders and Pacific Gas & Electric Co. workers at the site of a gas explosion in a neighborhood, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Hayward, Calif. (AP Photo/Minh Connors)

First responders and Pacific Gas & Electric Co. workers at the site of the explosion on the 800 block of East Lewelling Boulevard, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Hayward, Calif. (AP Photo/Minh Connors)

Onlookers and emergency responders gather at the scene of a gas explosion Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Hayward, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

A damaged rooftop is shown at the scene of a gas explosion Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Hayward, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

A firefighter walks near the scene of a gas explosion Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Hayward, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Emergency vehicles are lined up at the scene of a gas explosion Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Hayward, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Aston Villa extended its winning streak to eight games in all competitions with a 2-1 victory against Basel in the Europa League on Thursday to secure at least a playoff spot.

Villa is tied with Lyon and Midtjylland atop the standings of the second-tier European competition on 15 points with five wins from six games.

Villa bounced back from a poor start to the season and is now third in the Premier League, including a 2-1 victory over leader Arsenal on Saturday.

At St. Jakob-Park in Basel, summer signing Evann Guessand put Villa 1-0 ahead early following a corner kick before Flavius Daniliuc met Xherdan Shaqiri's curling free kick to equalize.

Halftime substitute Youri Tielemans needed just eight minutes to place a shot from 20 meters (yards) into the bottom corner of the net to restore Villa's lead for good.

Villa manager Unai Emery has won the Europa League trophy four times during stints in charge of Sevilla and Villarreal.

Afonso Moreira and Pavel Šulc scored inside the opening 11 minutes for Lyon to secure a 2-1 win over Go Ahead Eagles, while Cho Gue-sung netted the winner for Danish team Midtjylland in a 1-0 victory over Genk.

After eight games, the top eight in the 36-team table go directly to the round of 16 in March.

Teams placed ninth to 24th advance to the knockout playoffs in February.

In other games, Celta Vigo, which had stunned host Real Madrid 2-0 on Sunday in La Liga, came down to earth with a 2-1 defeat at home to Bologna. Anderson Talisca netted a hat trick for Fenerbahce in a 4-0 victory at Brann.

Earlier, Real Betis remained unbeaten after a 3-1 win over Dinamo in Zagreb.

Young Boys wasted a penalty but still earned a 1-0 win over Lille, which played an hour with 10 men after Ayyoub Bouaddi’s red card.

Stuttgart recovered from a 5-0 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga by routing Maccabi Tel Aviv 4-1.

Igor Jesus entered in the 86th minute and still had time to score a late winner for Nottingham Forest in its 2-1 win at Utrecht.

The forward claimed his fourth goal of the campaign two minutes from time after Utrecht goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas was unable to hold Dan Ndoye's header.

Arnaud Kalimuendo gave Forest the lead early in the second half before Mike van der Hoorn equalized with a header.

Since Sean Dyche took over as manager Forest has been unbeaten in the Europa League with three wins and a draw.

Barnabás Varga headed in the winning goal to complete a 2-1 comeback victory for Ferencváros over Scottish side Rangers and remained unbeaten with four wins and two draws.

Forward Bojan Miovski's acrobatic volley gave Rangers a 1-0 lead before Bence Ötvös equalized in first-half stoppage time for the hosts who are coached by former Celtic player Robbie Keane.

Rangers remains without a win in the league phase.

Nice remains the only Europa League team without a point after a 1-0 home defeat to Braga with Pau Victor scoring. It was the eighth straight loss for Nice across all competitions.

Celtic marked a European debut for new coach Wilfried Nancy with a 3-0 loss to Roma.

Defender Liam Scales started a night to forget for host Celtic with an own-goal and Evan Ferguson added two more from inside the box still inside the first 45 minutes. Arne Engels had a chance to pull one back in first-half stoppage time but his spot kick went off the post.

Celtic had lost to Hearts 2-1 on Sunday in the domestic league in Nancy's first game in charge.

Asked if he had expected such a difficult start at Celtic, Nancy said: “I expected it. Come on guys, I just came one week ago."

In the third-tier Conference League, Crystal Palace swept aside Shelbourne 3-0 away in Dublin with Christantus Uche, Eddie Nketiah and Yeremy Pino on target.

Two-time runner-up Fiorentina beat Dynamo Kyiv 2-1, and Strasbourg won 1-0 at Aberdeen to lead the standings with 13 points from five games.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Celta's players react after the Europa League soccer match between Celta Vigo and Bologna in Vigo, Spain, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Lalo R. Villar)

Roma's Gianluca Mancini, center left, celebrates scoring during the Europa League soccer match between Celtic and Roma in Glasgow, Scotland, Thursday Dec. 11, 2025. (Andrew Milligan/PA via AP)

Villa's Eyann Guessand, front, celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Europa League opening phase soccer match between FC Basel 1893 and Aston Villa in Basel, Switzerland, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (Georgios Kefalas/Keystone via AP)

Stuttgart's Josha Vagnoman, left, scores his side's fourth goal during the Europa League opening phase soccer match between VfB Stuttgart and Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC in Stuttgart, Germany, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (Tom Weller/dpa via AP)

Betis' Rodrigo Riquelme celebrates with Betis' Angel Ortiz, top, after scoring his side's second goal during the Europa League soccer match between GNK Dinamo Zagreb and Real Betis in Zagreb, Croatia, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Ferencvaros' Barnabas Varga scores during the Europa League opening phase soccer match between Ferencvaros and Rangers in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Utrecht's Mike van der Hoorn, right, scores his side's opening goal during the Europa League opening phase soccer match between Utrecht and Nottingham Forest, in Utrecht, Netherlands, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Patrick Post)

Nottingham Forest's Igor Jesus, second right, celebrates with teammates after scoring his side's second goal during the Europa League opening phase soccer match between Utrecht and Nottingham Forest, in Utrecht, Netherlands, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Patrick Post)

Aston Villa players celebrate after Aston Villa's Emiliano Buendia, left, scored his side's second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Aston Villa and Arsenal in Birmingham, England, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)

Aston Villa's Emi Buendia, Ollie Watkins and Matty Cash during a training session at Bodymoor Heath Training Ground, in Tamworth, England, Wednesday Dec. 10, 2025. (Jacob King/PA via AP)