San Bruno Homes Burned to the Ground After a Massive Explosion

     Reported on CNN channel 5 at 6:00p.m, residents living in San Bruno, California suffer a devastating fate as they watched their homes light on fire. Also discussed in The New York Times, writer Anahad O'Connor updates us all on what occurred during the hour long fire consumption.

A tremendous explosion apparently fueled by a ruptured gas line tore through a San Francisco suburb Thursday night, destroying about 20 homes and critically injuring a number of people, the authorities said.

The blast occurred in San Bruno, about 8 miles south of San Francisco, and was so loud and devastating that some officials initially suspect that a plane had smashed into the neighborhood. Towers of flames shot 50 feet into the sky and a plume of ash-colored smoke hovered over the area. Aerial footage showed multiple cars on fire and several homes completely consumed by a blazing fireball that stretched across an entire street.

 As I sat down and watched the news, I was devastated. This particular event was broadcast on every informational news channel. The flames itself, from the fire were so strong that it was nearly impossible to put out. Thankfully everyone was safely evacuated from their homes and immediately rushed to the hospital. It was a tragedy that many suffered the loss of their home, especially during these days when everyone is struggling through the economy. The big question that still remains, what will happen to those that lost their home?

Shallow-water Platform Fire Raises Questions on Oil Safety.

     As we all know about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill that recently occurred in August, it has now started to formulate whether the approach to shallow water drilling is safe. The Washington Post did a report on this matter, discussing the possible effects of shallow water drilling.

In the hours afterward, both the White House and the petroleum lobby offered little comment. But others - in Congress and in environmental groups - rushed out statements that raised wider questions about oil safety.

'"This is a shallow-water platform, and that's the key here. Since the beginning of this crisis, the Obama administration has attempted to limit the crisis to deep-water drilling and to suggest that shallow-water oil drilling is safe," said Kieran Suckling of the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group. "I'm not in the least bit surprised that we have a big shallow-water drilling explosion right now.

     The Obama Administration and representatives from The Center of Biological Diversity argue whether they should consider limiting the shallow-water drilling. However, the Obama Administration strongly believes that shallow-water drilling poses a very minor threat to the endangerment of the environment. As Thomas L. Friedman would say, considering he strongly believes in saving our environment; that Kieran Suckling had a point that needed to be recognized because we as a nation need to be more aware of preserving our natural resources instead of destroying them. Also we need to break away from this non stop oil addiction.