Los Altos, CA – Dave Murphy, Chronicle Staff Writer
A father of two was pinned beneath the wreckage of his Los Altos home for more than three hours this morning after a natural gas explosion injured his young children, authorities said.
The man, whom authorities did not identify, was alert and talking with firefighters as they dug through the partially collapsed home at 1480
Frontero Ave. before finally freeing him at about noon, said Tom Walsh, senior deputy fire marshal with the Santa Clara County Fire District.
“There’s a portion of the A-frame roof that’s right on top of him,” Walsh said, before firefighters finally freed the man.
The blast shook the two-story home at 8:14 a.m., largely leveling the structure and leaving little more than the facade standing. Paramedics
treated the children, a 4-year-old boy and a 6-year-old girl, for minor injuries.
The girl climbed from the wreckage, and a neighbor helped the boy to safety before firefighters arrived.
The children’s mother was not home at the time of the blast.
Pacific Gas & Electric is investigating what caused the blast.