Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP today filed a lawsuit in Alameda Superior Court on behalf of the Duenas family who was severely injured and traumatized when their rental home in the Ashland neighborhood of Hayward was destroyed in a massive gas explosion on December 11, 2025.
The complaint names Pacific Gas and Electric Company and its parent PG&E Corporation, the County of Alameda, Redgwick Construction Co., Mayo Asphalt Milling, and landlord Angela Plowman as defendants and asserts causes of action for negligence, nuisance, and inverse condemnation, among others.
A Preventable Catastrophe
According to the complaint, the tragedy unfolded over the course of more than two hours on the morning of December 11, 2025, during roadwork associated with the County of Alameda’s East Lewelling Boulevard Project. At approximately 7:25 a.m., PG&E was notified that a subcontractor for the County, Mayo Asphalt Milling, had struck and damaged a gas service line while performing excavation work. PG&E responders arrived shortly thereafter and confirmed the leak.
Despite knowing for over two hours that gas was actively leaking near the Duenas family’s home, the complaint alleges that not a single defendant provided any warning to the Duenas family. At approximately 9:37 a.m., the accumulated gas ignited and caused a catastrophic explosion that destroyed the home.
“The Duenas family’s home exploded around them without warning,” said Niall McCarthy of Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy. “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.”
Devastating Injuries to the Family
The complaint details the severe injuries suffered by the family. Maria del Socorro Duenas Ponce and her adult daughter Soledad Flores were asleep at the time of the blast. A wall collapsed on them. Maria suffered a fractured neck, burns to her hands, arms, and face, injuries to her throat and jaw, and required a breathing machine and multiple surgeries. Soledad suffered two broken ribs requiring surgery. Jesus Duenas Ponce was thrown into the basement by the force of the explosion and was forced to crawl out on his belly through debris, sustaining extensive burns and broken bones. He has undergone multiple surgeries and continues to have limited mobility and limited use of his hands. The family also lost their home and all their belongings.
A Pattern of Corporate Recklessness
The complaint places the explosion within the broader context of PG&E’s documented history of safety failures. It notes PG&E’s criminal conviction on six felony counts related to the 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion that killed eight people, and its subsequent admission of guilt to 84 felony counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with devastating California wildfires that killed more than 100 people — fires that occurred while PG&E was still serving a federal criminal probation sentence for the San Bruno disaster.
The complaint also alleges that PG&E misrepresented critical facts to federal investigators. After the explosion, PG&E told the National Transportation Safety Board that its personnel had knocked on the doors of the Duenas home. The complaint alleges that this claim was false, contradicted by the family’s own account and by video footage from a neighbor’s camera, and that PG&E made the false statement to cover up its failure to notify residents.
“PG&E’s record speaks for itself,” said McCarthy. “This is a company that has been convicted of 90 felonies — and the exposed gas line that destroyed this family’s home is the latest consequence of a corporate culture that has consistently put stock prices and PR above safety enhancements.”
