Neighbors of Home Leveled in Ashland Gas Explosion File Their Own Lawsuit Against PG&E

Ten months after a gas explosion flattened a house in unincorporated Ashland near Hayward, the family living next door has gone to court too.

Robin Powell and her adult son, Kyle, filed suit last week in Alameda County Superior Court over the Dec. 11, 2025, blast that destroyed their neighbor's home in the 800 block of East Lewelling Boulevard, Bay City News reported Thursday. The complaint names PG&E and two construction companies and alleges negligence, public and private nuisance, and trespass. It seeks damages for medical expenses, lost earnings and other economic losses.

How the morning unfolded

According to the suit, a crew from Mayo Asphalt Milling, a subcontractor to Redgwick Construction Co. on the county's East Lewelling Boulevard upgrade, struck a gas service line during excavation at about 7:25 a.m. PG&E was notified and isolated the damaged line by 9:25 a.m. The Alameda County Fire Department had responded but left after a PG&E employee said help wasn't needed, according to the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation. At 9:37 a.m., the house next door to the Powells exploded.

The new complaint disputes PG&E workers' statements to the NTSB that they knocked on residents' doors, saying neighborhood video and the plaintiffs' accounts show that didn't happen. The Duenas family, who rented the destroyed home and three of whose members were badly hurt, made the same allegation in a lawsuit filed in May, NBC Bay Area and CBS San Francisco reported at the time.

The Powells' attorney, Randall Strauss, said the explosion terrified his clients and left them displaced from their home.

Five cases and counting

Niall McCarthy, who represents the Duenas family, said five separate lawsuits are now pending over the explosion and that he is working to consolidate them into one case. "This tragedy was completely avoidable," he said.

A PG&E spokesperson said the company is reviewing the complaint and will respond in court, adding that NTSB rules restrict its comments while the federal investigation continues. Alameda County did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A case management hearing in the Powell case is set for March 3 at the Hayward Hall of Justice.