Explosions Northern California

A powerful propane explosion inside a house seriously burned four police officers as they tried unsuccessfully to keep a man from killing himself early Thursday. The blast blew one officer through a window and dropped him 50 feet away, and another was flung through a wall. All four officers were hospitalized in critical condition. The suicide victim, Bill Samuels, 42, apparently released propane in his boarding room after stuffing sheets under the door.

An explosion at a pipe-making factory Wednesday injured at least 12 people, authorities said. No chemicals were involved in the explosion at the U.S. Pipe and Foundry, said Roberto Munoz of the Union City Fire Department. Three people who received cuts and burns were taken to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, where they were listed in fair condition. The others had less-serious injuries.

All that is left of the Napa Valley's most spectacular mansion is a big hole in the ground, a swimming pool and a whole lot of questions. When the 18,000-square-foot wine country chateau exploded last April, it seemed to lift off like a rocket, then disintegrated into a heap of rubble. The heat was so intense, and the destruction so complete, that investigators were lucky to find some silverware.

President Clinton on Thursday pardoned an 80-year-old Los Angeles man convicted of mutiny after a deadly domestic disaster that shed harsh light on racial discrimination in the military during World War II. As a young sailor, Freddie Meeks was imprisoned after he and 49 other black sailors refused to load live ammunition aboard Navy vessels following an explosion that killed 320 men at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine. The blast rocked the munitions base on Suisun Bay near Concord, Calif.

Actor-director Morgan Freeman adds executive producer to his resume with Sunday night's NBC movie "Mutiny," a story of the aftermath and controversy surrounding the largest home-front disaster of World War II. The two-hour historical drama traces the complicated series of events surrounding the July 17, 1944, naval mutiny at Port Chicago, some 50 miles northeast of San Francisco.

A historic four-story downtown building exploded and partially collapsed Tuesday in this scenic Sierra railroad town, killing at least one person and trapping or injuring several others, authorities said. Judy Wells, a Truckee Fire Department spokeswoman, said rescue dogs were searching the rubble for a 4-year-old girl and another person who might have been in the century-old structure at the time of the blast.

A 3-month-old girl was in critical condition with burns Saturday and dozens were left homeless after the infant's father allegedly disconnected a gas line in their apartment in a suicide attempt, causing a blast heard half a mile away. The 5:15 a.m. explosion forced all 34 residents of the two-story building to evacuate indefinitely. Five people were treated for cuts and bruises, while the baby's mother, Anna Owczsarska, 21, was in good condition with minor burns at Valley Medical Center.

Independent consultants reviewing safety at Tosco Corp.'s Avon oil refinery, where a blast killed four people in February, said in a draft report that worker-supervisor disputes impaired safety at the site. The report, prepared by Arthur D. Little for Contra Costa County Health Services, said an adversarial relationship between workers and their managers had impeded communication at the plant.

That place has remained with them. Even after they left, they never forgot: 320 dead, 390 wounded and 258 young men marked for life. "It lives with you, year after year," said Carl Tuggle, 73, of Cincinnati. "I haven't seen that place where the explosion occurred since that night. They offered us the opportunity to go back and get our belongings. I told them they could have it. I didn't want to go back to that place."

A fiery explosion possibly caused by leaking gas ripped through a three-story apartment building in the city's Tenderloin district shortly before 10 p.m. Thursday, scattering flaming debris and shattering glass that injured at least six people. Emergency workers began searching through the smoldering rubble as soon as the blaze was put out, but no bodies had been found an hour after the destructive blast. "They're literally peeling floor by floor," Mayor Frank Jordan said.

A group of black World War II veterans on Friday remembered colleagues lost in an ammunition explosion 55 years ago and urged President Clinton to clear the names of 50 black sailors court-martialed after the tragedy. "We're going to give those men and their survivors the due that they deserve," said John Lawrence, an aide to Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez), who is one of the lawmakers leading the pardon effort. "Mr. President, please hear us," said veteran Yale Lewis of Washington.

Independent consultants reviewing safety at Tosco Corp.'s Avon oil refinery, where a blast killed four people in February, said in a draft report that worker-supervisor disputes impaired safety at the site. The report, prepared by Arthur D. Little for Contra Costa County Health Services, said an adversarial relationship between workers and their managers had impeded communication at the plant.

Hundreds of people complaining of breathing problems flooded hospitals after an explosion at a Chevron Corp. refinery spewed black smoke over the area. The Thursday blast at the 97-year-old refinery on the edge of San Francisco Bay prompted Richmond officials to sound sirens, warning residents to stay indoors. An estimated 600 people went to three area hospitals. Some said they were nauseated and had a metallic taste in their mouths or a burning sensation in their throats.

"I am blind because this is what the Lord wanted me to be," says Robert Routh Jr., one of the survivors of the Port Chicago explosion, which forms a backdrop for "Mutiny," a two-hour NBC teleplay executive-produced by three-time Oscar nominee Morgan Freeman. After the explosion, Routh, who now lives in Los Angeles, lay in his hospital bed, wondering how a young man, blind at 19, would be able to make a living. "Lying in my hospital bed--I confronted the Lord with just that.

Actor-director Morgan Freeman adds executive producer to his resume with Sunday night's NBC movie "Mutiny," a story of the aftermath and controversy surrounding the largest home-front disaster of World War II. The two-hour historical drama traces the complicated series of events surrounding the July 17, 1944, naval mutiny at Port Chicago, some 50 miles northeast of San Francisco.

A 3-month-old girl was in critical condition with burns Saturday and dozens were left homeless after the infant's father allegedly disconnected a gas line in their apartment in a suicide attempt, causing a blast heard half a mile away. The 5:15 a.m. explosion forced all 34 residents of the two-story building to evacuate indefinitely. Five people were treated for cuts and bruises, while the baby's mother, Anna Owczsarska, 21, was in good condition with minor burns at Valley Medical Center.

Prosecutors said Tuesday they will wait at least two weeks before deciding whether to formally charge two environmental activists accused by police of causing an explosion that nearly killed the pair last week. Supporters of the two said the delay indicates police have a weak case and renewed their charge that someone tried to assassinate the activists to stop their efforts to preserve old-growth redwoods. One of the activists, Darryl Cherney, 33, of Piercy, remained free on bail Tuesday.

An explosion at a pipe-making factory Wednesday injured at least 12 people, authorities said. No chemicals were involved in the explosion at the U.S. Pipe and Foundry, said Roberto Munoz of the Union City Fire Department. Three people who received cuts and burns were taken to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, where they were listed in fair condition. The others had less-serious injuries.

That place has remained with them. Even after they left, they never forgot: 320 dead, 390 wounded and 258 young men marked for life. "It lives with you, year after year," said Carl Tuggle, 73, of Cincinnati. "I haven't seen that place where the explosion occurred since that night. They offered us the opportunity to go back and get our belongings. I told them they could have it. I didn't want to go back to that place."

Authorities arrested three more men Thursday in connection with the discovery of a 500-pound cache of explosives Wednesday and an explosion over the weekend. The latest arrests brought the total in custody to six. One of the men, William Goehler, 34, is a supporter of anti-government militia groups, and the other five are acquaintances of Goehler, Yuba County Undersheriff Gary Finch said.