Car slams into house, breaks gas meter, sparking 2-alarm fire in northwest Fresno

A driver in northwest Fresno careened into a neighbor’s home early Wednesday, hitting a natural gas meter, sparking an explosion and two-alarm fire that firefighters and utility workers had difficulty shutting off.

No one was injured in the incident, which started just after 8:30 a.m. in the 4100 block of West San Ramon Avenue.

Fresno Fire Battalion Chief Kirk Wanless said that when the driver hit the home, the fire began to spread to a neighboring home, but arriving firefighters were able to contain the flames largely to the garage where the fire had erupted.

It was not immediately clear why the driver lost control of the car. A police officer speculated that the driver may have confused the brake and gas pedals.

Wanless said that usually the gas line at a home can be shut off at the meter, but since that was the source of the fire, the meter could not be safely accessed. So firefighters and PG&E workers attempted to reach the line by digging down to it in the front yard. But they had difficulty reaching it it because of the hard-pan soil, forcing the utility company to bring in heavy equipment to reach the line. The gas line was shut down about 10:13 a.m., according to PG&E spokesman Denny Boyles.

The amount of damage from the fire was being assessed by fire investigators.