Personal Injury Law

House Explosion Kills one and Injures five Sacramento Residents

By Moseley Collins, Esq.

Christmas Eve a house exploded in Rancho Cordova, right off Highway 50 between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe. One elderly man was killed and five other people were injured. As a Sacramento Personal Injury Lawyer and a resident of this area, it is very alarming when a home mysteriously blows up, a home that could have easily been mine or a family members. To lose your home is a very tragic and difficult thing to have to deal with, I personally have had to go through a house fire explosion. Though ours was a complete mystery, there has been some speculation that this Rancho Cordova house explosion could of been the result of a gas leak.

According to CBS 13 News:

The explosion sent three victims to the University of California, Davis medical complex in Sacramento in critical condition.

One of those victims, Wilbert Paana, 72, suffered a severe abdominal injuries and has died, according to hospital spokeswoman Phyllis Brown.

Brown identified the other burn victims as Kim Dickson, in her mid-40s, who is in critical condition, and 17-year-old Sunny Dickson, who was transferred later in the day to nearby Shriners Hospital for Children.

Officials could not immediately say where the Dicksons and Paana were when the home exploded.

Two others, including a utility worker, had lesser injuries.

A firefighter was also injured and taken to Mercy San Juan Medical Center. He was treated and released.

John Turner, who lives in a duplex about two blocks from the leveled home, said he heard "a big boom" shortly after 1:30 p.m.

"It sounded like something had fallen on my roof," he said in a telephone interview. "I saw flames about as high as the house next door ... the smoke was billowing from that area."

Turner, 30, said he did not smell anything but saw two PG&E trucks near the explosion site when he walked out of his house.

Joe Helton, 33, said he was one of the first to arrive at the destroyed home and saw a woman from the house.

"I asked her if there was anybody else in the house and she said her dad was in the house. So I ran to where the garage was, but it was pretty much smoke and fire in there," he said.

Helton said he helped two next-door neighbors get out of their house and sat the injured PG&E worker down in a chair. He and others then discovered a man buried under wood shingles and debris about 10 feet from the sidewalk.

"We started pulling stuff away. You couldn't even tell he was there; the stuff was covering him," Helton said.

As a Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins specializes in serious personal injury cases and/or wrongful death cases. We believe that if you or a loved one have been seriously injured and your not at fault, you have the right to obtain an experienced personal injury attorney. Hiring an experienced injury lawyer will help you win the money to pay for medical care, and other expenses resulting from your accident.

Call the Law Office of Moseley Collins at 916-444-4444, or visit our website at www.moseleycollins.com. There is never a fee until we win your case.

Full post as published by Sacramento Injury Lawyer Blog on January 06, 2009 (boomark / email).