A Hayward-area family whose rental home was obliterated in a gas blast along East Lewelling Boulevard is now suing Pacific Gas & Electric, Alameda County and a pair of construction firms, saying a Dec. 11, 2025 pipeline explosion left them badly injured and with nothing left to salvage. Their lawsuit seeks money for extensive medical care, long-term disabilities and the total loss of their home.
The complaint, filed May 13 in Alameda County Superior Court, names Pacific Gas & Electric, Redgwick Construction Co., subcontractor Mayo Asphalt Milling, and Alameda County as defendants, according to the court complaint. The filing says three people were inside the home on the 800 block of East Lewelling Boulevard when the blast flattened the house, leading to multiple surgeries for the residents. It lays out the family’s injuries and alleges the defendants knew gas was leaking for hours before the explosion but still did not warn people living nearby, according to the same complaint.
Federal investigators have put together a preliminary timeline that reads like a slow-moving nightmare. A crew struck a gas service line at about 7:25 AM. Workers reported leaks and isolated one section around 8:18 AM, but gas on the main line was not shut off until roughly 9:29 AM, and the home exploded about 9:36 AM, according to an initial report from the NTSB. The agency notes the main distribution running along East Lewelling was installed in 1942 and says its probe is focusing on excavation practices and PG&E’s leak response procedures, with physical evidence from the scene now undergoing lab analysis.
The lawsuit details brutal injuries. Maria Del Socorro Duenas Ponce suffered a fractured neck, burns and throat and jaw damage that required ventilator support and multiple surgeries. Her daughter, Soledad Flores, had two broken ribs that needed surgery. Jesus Duenas Ponce sustained extensive burns and broken bones and is still struggling with mobility and limited use of his hands, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The suit also says the family lost everything they owned when the house was leveled.
The plaintiffs contend PG&E, Alameda County and the contractors knew gas was escaping near the home for more than two hours and failed to alert residents. The complaint also claims PG&E’s statement that crews “knocked” on doors before the blast is contradicted by neighbor video, according to Pleasanton Weekly. A PG&E spokesperson told local outlets the utility is reviewing the lawsuit and said federal rules tied to the active NTSB investigation limit what the company can say for now.
NTSB Timeline Raises Safety Questions
The NTSB’s early findings focus on whether standard leak response and excavation rules were followed and on why gas continued to flow in the system after crews had been on scene for hours, according to the NTSB. Investigators are poring over physical evidence, the condition of the decades-old pipeline and communication logs between work crews and emergency responders. What they conclude could shape how utilities and contractors respond to reported gas leaks in the future.
Legal Fallout And What Comes Next
The lawsuit accuses the defendants of negligence, creating a public nuisance and trespass, and it lists more than 50 individual defendants, according to the court complaint. The family is represented by Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, and the civil case is pending with no trial date yet, as both lawyers and federal investigators continue to collect evidence.
“We’re trying to get them to as close to normal as possible, trying to get as much of their old life back as possible,” attorney Niall McCarthy said of his clients’ recovery, according to NBC Bay Area. With the NTSB investigation still active and the lawsuit now on file, neighbors and regulators alike will be watching to see whether utility operators and contractors followed the rules and whether new safeguards are needed to prevent another catastrophe, per reporting from the San Francisco Chronicle.
