South Lake Tahoe, CA- Natural gas leaking from a damaged meter apparently was responsible for the Saturday explosion that damaged a Denny’s restaurant in South Lake Tahoe, fire officials said Sunday.
Gas apparently had been leaking from the cracked piping of a snow-covered meter for several days before the 3 p.m. explosion, said Capt. Greg Gstettenbauer, acting division chief for the South Lake Tahoe Fire Department.
The gas seeped into the restaurant, filled the attic and slowly worked its way into the kitchen where it reached an ignition source and triggered the blast, Gstettenbauer said.
Two people suffered minor injuries, including a customer with glass in her eyes, he said.
No damage estimate was available, but Gstettenbauer said the Denny’s, at the corner of Lake Tahoe Boulevard and Al Tahoe Boulevard, suffered “pretty major structural damage.”