If it is ultimately determined that we were responsible for the cause of the incident, we will take accountability," Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said in an e-mailed statement.
The fire had spread to 10 acres and was 50 percent contained late Thursday, said Jay Allen, spokesman for the California Emergency Management Agency.
Between 150 and 200 firefighters were at the scene, Haag said. More than 100 people were being sheltered at nearby evacuation centers, but no estimate of the number of residents missing was available, he said.
Witnesses said the explosion shot a fireball more than 1,000 feet in the air and sent frightened residents fleeing for safety and rushing to get belongings out of burning homes.
After the blast, flames reached as high as 100 feet as the fire fueled itself on burning homes. Planes and helicopters flew over the neighborhood dumping water.
San Bruno Fire Capt. Charlie Barringer said the neighborhood was engulfed by the time firefighters arrived, even though the fire station was only a few blocks away. He said the blast took out the entire water system, forcing firefighters to pump water from more than two miles away.
Haag said firefighters initially had trouble getting close enough to the ruptured gas line to shut it down because of the flames.
Connie Bushman returned home to find her block was on fire. She said she ran into her house looking for her 80-year-old father but could not find him. A firefighter told her he had left, but she had not been able to track him down.
"I don't know where my father is, I don't know where my husband is, I don't know where to go," Bushman said.
Victims suffering from serious burns began arriving at San Francisco Bay area hospitals shortly after the blast. An estimate of the number of injured wasn't immediately available. Hospitals reported receiving about 20 injured patients - several of whom were in critical condition - and they anticipated getting more.
Jane Porcelli, 62, said she lives on a hill above where the fire was centered. She said she thought she heard a plane overhead with a struggling engine.
"And then you heard this bang. And everything shook except the floor, so we knew it wasn't an earthquake," Porcelli said. "I feel helpless that I can't do anything. I just gotta sit by and watch."
Flames and a smoke plume rise from a massive fire in a residential neighborhood in San Bruno, California.
Flames and a smoke plume rise from the fire in a residential neighborhood September 9, 2010 in San Bruno, California.
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