California gas pipe ranked high risk

The section of gas pipeline that ruptured and exploded in a suburban San Francisco neighborhood, killing six and injuring nearly 60 others, was ranked as high risk because it ran through a highly populated area, state and federal authorities said Saturday.

One of the victims killed in the inferno Thursday worked for the commission reviewing Pacific Gas & Electric’s plans to upgrade another risky section of the same gas line two and a half miles  away, California Public Utilities Commission spokeswoman Terrie Prosper said.

Longtime commission analyst Jacqueline Greig and her  daughter Janessa, 13, died in the massive blast, which left a crater near their home. Jessica Morales, 20, was also killed in the explosion and  fire.

Search teams found the remains Saturday morning of two more people who were killed, San Bruno city spokesman Steve Firpo said.

One other victim found earlier has yet to be identified.

Some residents were allowed back into a limited area to retrieve belongings, but San Bruno Mayor Jim Ruane said he doubts any will be able to return permanently Saturday.

“We want to make sure that the gas lines are safe,” he said.

A group of local, state and federal officials toured the damaged area and described a ghost-town full of remnants of cars melted in driveways and pieces of houses, some left with just the chimney standing.

Besides the 40 homes leveled by the blast, seven were severely damaged, while dozens of other houses suffered less  severe damage in the fire that sped across 15 acres.

Residents of a neighborhood devastated by a thunderous pipeline explosion and  inferno likely won’t be allowed to move back into their homes  Saturday, a local official said.