SAN BRUNO DISASTER MANAGEMENT 2
San Bruno Disaster Management
Spontaneous planning is a critical element of disaster management. The general planning
and scheduling of events and activities are crucial. In the managing situations, the aspects of
flexibility, creativity, and improvisation come in handy in rescuing situations that might not be
anticipated. The San Bruno gas explosion, in this case, experienced two cases of spontaneous
interventions. The first example was the emergency evacuation of people from the affected area.
Upon the explosion of the gas line, which led to the destruction of at least 53 homes and the
damaging of another 120 in the same neighborhood, there was an immediate need to move
residents of San Bruno into safer grounds (UsuallySeldom, 2010). As such, the emergency
response teams acted fast in evacuating inhabitants of the affected area to safety shelters.
Secondly, the gasoline and electricity supply to the neighborhood was shut down with immediate
effect. The decision was informed by the fact that the fire was started by a leak in the
infrastructure that supplied gas within the locality of San Bruno.
The above interventions had significant immediate impact on the management of the
disaster. Firstly, the evacuation of people from the affected area was done to save lives and
lessen the chances of further injuries being inflicted on the inhabitants. By evacuating them, the
emergency response teams made sure that no further casualties would be reported. The only
damage done was what happened before the moving out of people from the area. On the other
hand, the shutting down of gasoline and electricity supply lessened the probability and
aggravation of the explosions and fires that might have been caused by the continued connection
to power and gas.
