Residents of Ashland community near Hayward demand answers following massive explosion, fire from punctured gas line

By Katie Nielsen

It’s been less than a week since a massive explosion near Hayward after a construction crew hit a gas line, and now concerned neighbors are demanding answers from the Alameda County Board of Supervisors.

“This has been going on for months, and now it’s impacted so much more,” said Mike Morgan, a business owner along Lewelling Boulevard. 

Morgan said the county originally tore up the street a few years ago and added larger sidewalks and bike lanes. After that project was finished, Morgan said the area started flooding during storms, and in some cases, nearby homes and businesses had a foot or more of water inside.

The neighbors complained to the Board of Supervisors, so the county came back out and tore the streets up again to fix the drainage issues; that’s why the construction crews were digging there last week.

“There’s trenches in the street, unsafe walkways, it’s overwhelming, and after what happened the other day, I mean, it’s pretty traumatic,” Morgan said.

Cathy Rodriguez lives only a few doors down from the site of the explosion and was also planning to open a café there – something she’s had to put on hold for more than a year because of the flooding and construction.

“Since December of 2024. It’s been a whole year, and I’ve been here like over 10 times,” Rodriguez says as she points to the Board of Supervisors chamber.

Rodriguez is the one who got the Lewelling neighbors together to speak at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors’ meeting. One of her biggest complaints was the lack of communication when the crew hit the gas line last Thursday morning. She also wonders why no one was evacuated.

“None of us were notified that there was a gas leak at 7:30 in the morning,” Rodriguez said.

According to the Alameda County Fire Department, firefighters did respond to the scene at the time the gas line was punctured.

“Our crews showed up two hours prior. We did not smell gas, detect gas, or see any reason for an emergency, so we waited to speak to PG&E, and PG&E said they could handle the situation,” said Deputy Chief Ryan Nishimoto with the Alameda County Fire Department on the morning of the explosion.

Rodriguez said based on the way the project had been handled in the past, she and other residents were worried, but she never imagined it would come to this.

“I didn’t think something like this could happen, but I’m not surprised,” says Rodriguez.

The National Transportation Safety Board has taken over the investigation, and a part of that is determining who decided not to evacuate residents near the gas leak and why. The NTSB said it would not have any additional information to release about the explosion until a preliminary report is completed, which is expected sometime next month.