Family injured in massive Hayward home explosion files lawsuit against PG&E, county, contractors

A family injured in a massive explosion in their Hayward home from a gas leak in December 2025 filed a lawsuit against Pacific Gas and Electric and Alameda County on Wednesday, their attorneys said.

Three members of the Dueñas family were severely injured when their home in the unincorporated Ashland community was destroyed on the morning of December 11, 2025. The explosion happened more than two hours after a gas line was damaged during roadwork construction in front of the home on East Lewelling Boulevard, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board.

The blast completely destroyed the home and left three members of the Dueñas family with severe injuries, including broken bones, burns, and other injuries requiring multiple surgeries as well as lingering trauma, according to the complaint. The family also lost all of their belongings.

Three PG&E workers also suffered minor injuries.

The lawsuit alleged that even though PG&E was notified that a county subcontractor had damaged a gas line across the street from the home, no one notified the Dueñas family of the gas leak or told them to evacuate. 

"The Duenas family's home exploded around them without warning," said attorney Niall McCarthy in a prepared statement. "For more than two hours, these defendants knew gas was leaking near this family's home, and not one of them knocked on the door and told the Duenas family to leave. This was yet another devastating Bay Area home explosion that was completely avoidable." 

PG&E told NTSB investigators that its crew at the scene had knocked on the doors of the home, and the two houses on either side of home, to make contact with the residents but no one responded. The lawsuit alleges this claim was false and was contradicted by the family's account and by video footage from a neighbor's camera, adding that PG&E made the false statement to cover up its failure to notify residents.

"PG&E is reviewing the lawsuit and will respond appropriately," said spokesperson Tamar Sarkissian. "The National Transportation Safety Board's investigation process is ongoing and as a party to the investigation we are restricted from commenting further at this time under NTSB rules."

The NTSB report said that following the initial gas leak, a PG&E responder initially told Alameda County firefighters that assistance was not needed. PG&E reported squeezing off the damaged service line about 8:18 a.m. and later detected gas near the home. 

About 20 minutes later, a PG&E crew began digging and squeezed off a 2-inch gas main at 9:29 a.m., stopping the flow to service lines in front of the home, eight minutes before it exploded, the report said.

Aside from PG&E, its parent corporation, and Alameda County, the lawsuit names Oakland-based Redgwick Construction, which was contracted by the county for the East Lewelling roadwork, and Fremont-based Mayo Asphalt Milling, subcontracted by Redwick to do excavation work and whose crew punctured the gas service line. The complaint also names the homes' landlord.

Redgwick has previously told CBS News Bay Area that its crews were working about two blocks away when a Mayo Asphalt Milling crew ruptured the gas line. The company stated that the incident should have never happened and that it was cooperating with authorities.

Mayo has not responded to previous CBS News inquiries about the incident.