Next-Door Neighbors File Fifth Lawsuit Over Gas Explosion That Leveled an Ashland Home

The family living next door to the Ashland house that was destroyed in a gas explosion last December has filed its own lawsuit, adding to a growing pile of cases over the blast in unincorporated Alameda County near Hayward.

The new suit

Robin Powell and her adult son, Kyle, filed in Alameda County Superior Court last week, Bay City News reported. Their complaint alleges negligence, public and private nuisance and trespass, and names PG&E, Alameda County and two construction companies. Their attorney, Randall Strauss, said the explosion terrified his clients and left them displaced from their home. They are seeking damages for medical bills, lost earnings and other losses.

What the lawsuit says happened

According to the suit, a Mayo Asphalt Milling crew working on the county's East Lewelling Boulevard improvement project struck a gas service line at about 7:25 a.m. on Dec. 11, 2025. Mayo was a subcontractor to Redgwick Construction, which the county hired for the project. PG&E crews isolated the damaged line by 9:25 a.m., and county firefighters who had responded left after a PG&E employee said they weren't needed, according to a National Transportation Safety Board investigation cited in the reporting. At 9:37 a.m., the house in the 800 block of East Lewelling Boulevard exploded.

The Powells' complaint disputes PG&E workers' statements to the NTSB that they tried to knock on neighbors' doors, saying neighborhood video and the family's own accounts show that didn't happen.

Five cases and counting

The family whose home was destroyed, the Duenas family, sued earlier this year, naming PG&E, the county and the contractors, CBS San Francisco reported. Their attorney, Niall McCarthy, told Bay City News there are now five pending lawsuits over the explosion and that he is working to consolidate them into one case, calling the blast "completely avoidable."

PG&E said it is reviewing the complaint and will respond in court, but cannot comment further while the NTSB investigation continues. The county administrator did not immediately respond to Bay City News.