Explosion, Fire Rocks San Bruno Neighborhood

Firefighters and rescuers are battling an out-of-control fire, possibly caused by a natural gas line explosion, that has destroyed dozens of homes in a residential area in the western portion of San Bruno, near San Bruno Avenue and Skyline Boulevard.

There hasn't been any word of fatalities, but multiple burn victims of all ages are being treated at Kaiser in South City.  Some are being transferred to a burn center in San Francisco.

San Bruno resident Maureen Hartje, who lives about a block away, said she was on her deck at about 6:08 p.m. when she heard something that sounded like "the Blue Angels were flying over."

She then saw white smoke, which then turned black.

Witnesses reported hearing a crash and described it as being like an earthquake.  The incident was initially reported as a plane crash, but according to news reports and a spokesman from San Francisco International Airport, no plane is involved. 

The area where the fire started is near  which was not damaged.

Patch reporters are at the scene and we will update this story as more details become available.

If you have photos or video from the fire, please post them to this story.

Patch editor Drew Himmelstein contributed to this report.