Around 11 p.m. last Thursday, as residents of Temescal dozed off for the night or prepared for the next day, a loud whooshing sound reverberated through the neighborhood. Neighbors immediately roused and texted each other or checked in on community forums to learn what had happened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One person, who asked not to be named, told us they rushed outside in their robe. Near their home, the sound appeared to be coming from a pipe replacement project at Webster Street and 43rd Street, they said. Fearing a serious situation, they immediately dialed the Pacific Gas & Electric Company.\u00a0<\/p>\n
PG&E, in a statement to The Oaklandside, confirmed that a gas leak had occurred near that location. A spokesperson, Tamar Sarkissian, told us that a PG&E crew was on-site by 11:15 p.m. the night of April 9 and after working for about two hours, stopped the flow of gas as \u201csafely and as quickly as possible\u201d \u2014 by 1:32 a.m. Friday morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
PG&E returned to the area on Saturday and Monday to remove residual gas, Sarkissian said. Another neighbor told The Oaklandside that the crew was seen releasing some of this gas into the air on Saturday. \u201cThat work is complete, and the equipment has been removed from the area,\u201d Sarkissian told us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She said that the massive whooshing people heard on Thursday night was from air movers, contraptions using compressed air that PG&E crews deploy to remove gas from soil or pipes, preventing potential sparks that could ignite dangerous explosions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the resident who reported the incident said that the whooshing sound occurred before the PG&E crew arrived and used those machines. The resident also said PG&E did not actually arrive at 11:15, but later, saying she called them again at 11:32, because they had not yet arrived. The resident showed us a screenshot of her phone showing that night\u2019s call.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Other people in the neighborhood said they were upset that the utility company did not communicate with them about the leak or the repair and cleanup. Sarkissian told us that neighbors were given a point of contact before work started in September of 2025, if they had \u201cany questions or concerns.\u201d Usually, PG&E sends a message to people in the area when there is a power outage or work being done.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A leak investigation is underway<\/p>\n