News Briefs News Briefs (July 15, 2005)

Fatal crash on El Camino

A Sunnyvale man died Sunday evening after driving into a traffic pole at El Camino Real and Escuela Avenue.

Basilio Marcino, 34, was pronounced dead at Stanford Hospital, after attempts by police officers and firefighters to resuscitate him failed.

Police department spokesperson Jim Bennett said that an officer noticed Marcino drive straight through a stop sign a few blocks away from the crash site. By the time the officer had turned his car around and caught up, he found Marcino's 1990 white Nissan Maxima jumped up on the curb in front of Togo's, both front tires flattened, the front of the car wrapped around the base of the stoplight.

As of press time, the county coroner's office was still investigating the cause of death, and whether Marcino may have been intoxicated at the time of the crash. -- Jon Wiener

Gas explosion demolishes home

A natural gas explosion destroyed a home in unincorporated Santa Clara County near Los Altos, leaving two children and their father with injuries but causing officials to declare it a "miracle" that they weren't killed.

The 8:15 a.m. blast on July 7 leveled the single-story home at 1480 Frontero Ave., sending debris onto surrounding rooftops and trees. A passing school bus driving near the home on Foothill Expressway had several windows shattered by the blast, but no children were on board.

The two children and their father were inside the home when it went up. The children escaped immediately after the blast, but their father was trapped for more than three hours, his legs pinned by a portion of the collapsed roof. Firefighters used airbags and hydraulic lifts to free him.

"Looking at the extent of the damage, it's absolutely miraculous that nobody was killed or seriously injured,'' said Deputy Fire Marshall Tom Welsh.

It remains unclear how the explosion occurred. Pacific Gas and Electric Company is still investigating exactly where the gas leak was, according to spokesman Jeff Smith. -- Bay City News

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