Hayward explosion: Family of 5 lost everything in blast
VIDEO: Moment explosion occurred in Hayward neighborhood
Video shared with KTVU shows the moment buildings exploded in a Hayward neighborhood Thursday morning.
HAYWARD, Calif. - A family of five lost their home and everything they owned in a gas pipe explosion near Hayward last week, family friends said, while trying to raise money to help them.
A GoFundMe organized by neighbor Allie Fralick identified the family as Jorge Duenas Ponce, his brother, sister and two young children as the people living at 867 E. Lewelling Boulevard, which was destroyed in a spectacle caught on video about 9:35 a.m. on Dec. 11.
Six people were injured, and two properties were destroyed, according to the Alameda County Fire Department. Another property that was destroyed belonged to Debra and Ven Otomoy at 877 E. Lewelling Boulevard.
Fralick wrote that "in a single moment, three adult siblings—two brothers and their sister—along with two young children, lost everything they owned." She said they were in the home when it blew up.
Two of the adults and one of the children are still in the hospital with severe injuries, she said.
Fralick said she has been friends with this "amazing, hardworking family for almost 30 years" and wanted to help, as they have been left with no food, cars, or clothing.
"Everything exploded or was burned by the ensuing fire," she said.
Efforts to speak to Fralick or the family were not immediately successful on Monday morning.
Jorge Duenas Ponce and his relatives had their home destroyed in a Hayward blast on Dec. 11, 2025. Photo: GoFundMe
But neighbor Brittany Maldano, who provided the Nest camera video of the explosion, which has since been aired around the world including in Pakistan and England, told KTVU that she is aware of the fundraising effort.
She and her husband, Christian, are now living in the Holiday Inn Express in Castro Valley, because they still have no heat in their home, which she said, luckily, only sustained a cracked window.
Maldanado said she wants officials to officially clear her home for safety before she returns.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the blast, which occurred after a third-party construction crew struck an underground natural gas line on the 800 block of Lewelling Boulevard, according to PG&E. The utility said the line was hit around 7:35 a.m., nearly two hours before the blast.
PG&E said that three of their employees were also injured in the blast.
Residents identified the construction crew as Redgwick Construction, based in Oakland.
Both the company’s website and the Alameda County Public Works Department list the work as part of an active project to improve East Lewelling Boulevard.
According to Cal-OSHA enforcement records, Redgwick has had no citations or violations in the last decade.
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