It’s gotten a little overwhelming watching the news tonight, after a giant explosion destroyed a neighborhood in San Bruno, just south of San Francisco. I was very relieved that my dear friend and her daughter, who live about a mile away from the site of the explosion, are OK – though they are waiting to hear from their own friends and neighbors. My thoughts are with them all…
The one source of solace is hearing about how people are rushing to provide all the help they can. Firefighters, EMTs and other first responders are acting with their usual understated heroism; health care providers are assembled at all local hospitals, waiting to treat victims of the fire.
And of course there are the smaller, though no less touching (or doubtless appreciated) actions I’m hearing about on Twitter – local citizens showing up with blankets and pizza for their neighbors at the local shelter; area motels offering free rooms to those who have nowhere to go; the pet store at the mall offering shelter for evacuated animals; a Costco employee delivering crates of water and snacks to a shelter; people crowding blood banks, eager to donate.
I really dread going to sleep tonight, only because the news tomorrow is likely to be grim.
For information about donating blood, call Blood Centers of the Pacific at 888-393-4483.
It's a Complete Outrage 
So horrifying. I’m glad your friend & her daughter are OK. I feel so sorry for all of those people and their families. What a tragedy.