LOS ANGELES (AP) — A preliminary investigation indicates that a gas leak sparked an explosion and fire at a three-story residential complex in the San Fernando Valley on Friday that critically injured a man.
"We have nothing further to indicate that there was any other source," Deputy Fire Chief Jim Hill said.
There was no sign of any connection to a recent federal warning that terrorists could target apartment buildings.
"I see no indication that it will be a criminal investigation," said interim Police Chief Martin Pomeroy.
FBI and police bomb experts responded as a precaution after the blast, which hurled debris around the suburban Encino neighborhood 15 miles northwest of downtown.
"I thought it was an earthquake but there was no aftershock," said Bob Morris, 52, who was working in a building on the other side of the block. "I ran to the parking lot and I saw this guy, his clothes were tattered and there was a lot of blood."
A man with third-degree burns was hospitalized in critical condition, Hill said. Mayor James Hahn said two other people were hospitalized because they were traumatized.