Unexplained explosion explained in Ocean Beach

On August 22 at about 7 p.m., San Diego Police Department cruisers, fire and rescue vehicles, and SDG&E crews responded a complaint of a natural-gas odor in a garage located near Santa Cruz and Del Monte avenues in Ocean Beach. About 200 residents were forced out of their homes after SDG&E determined the gas main was leaking at about 95 percent.

The initial call to SDG&E came from general contractor Rusty Smelser, who is now being called a hero for potentially saving many lives.

“I got a call from the property manager at a place on Bacon Street to come and check on the sprinklers; he noticed a lot of plants were dying and thought it might be due to broken sprinklers…. After I got there [Bacon Street between Del Monte and Santa Cruz] I checked the system and felt the ground; it was damp so I knew there wasn’t anything wrong with the system, but I did notice the dead plants.

"A tenant then approached me and told me about an unexplained explosion that occurred at the Coco Palms Apartment building [in May] located directly across from where I noticed the initial odor — maybe 25 feet away. Because there was no fire indicated and no gas line running through that wall, I felt that it might be a gas leak, especially after looking at the hedge located directly next to Coco Palms; it is completely dead.

"At that point, I felt it was unusual, not insect-related, so I looked more closely at the plants along street and alley [to the south] and they were all dead or dying. The further away from the area I looked, the greener the plants and hedges were, at one point I had my face about a foot from the ground and could smell gas.

"I called SDG&E right way, was on hold for about 45 minutes and once they arrived, the first responder from SDGE did a check and found the leak was 95 percent. I asked what the norm was and they said 1 percent.”

Residents in Ocean Beach have been complaining about the smell of gas for months.

“If you smell something, take a few minutes to call it in," says Smelser. "They will come check it out, but don’t just tell each other about it or post [on Facebook] about it, call it in. This could have caused a major explosion."