22h 30min, mar 17, 1969 y - Canyon Pipeline Bombing HOMICIDE & BOMBING

Description:

An exposed stretch of 10-inch pipeline Shell Oil carrying aviation gasoline from Martinez to a fuel storage site near the Oakland Airport was ruptured by explosives on March 17 in Canyon, CA

The first of several explosions went off at about 10:30pm. The Moraga Fire Department, county sheriff's deputies, and a highway patrolman all responded to the summons for help. "Also racing into Canyon that night was Earl J. Davis, a Shell Oil Superintendent, who arrived to assess the situation after technicians in Martinez realized the pipeline had lost pressure."

~11:30pm ("about an hour later" after the first explosion): a second wave of explosions (two explosions) "touched off as 20,000 gallons of 115-octane fuel spilled out into San Leandro Creek and caught fire."

The fuel caught fire with the second wave of explosions. Six men, including Earl Davis, were badly burned. Sgt. H.E. Rellar, and deputies Al Moore, Ken Sandy, Hans DeGraef, and Ron Michener were all treated for burns at Kaiser Hospital in Walnut Creek. Earl Davis passed away four days after the fire

"Richard Rivind, a Canyon resident found wandering in a daze on Skyline Boulevard, was treated for shock and minor burns, telling police he was on a hillside and knocked to the ground when the blast went off"

Twelve cars were destroyed: including 3 police cars, a 2/5ton truck, Davis's car, a "carry-all van", a Highway Patrol cruiser, and one other car.
The "landmark" Canyon Store, which is the primary location where the 60 homes in Canyon bought their supplies, was "left in ruins" and a total loss

"What is known is that someone with a insider's knowledge of the pipeline knew that it was above ground in only one 25-foot section crossing San Leandro Creek in Canyon, and was comfortable enough with explosives to touch it off. Investigators said that the bomber may have been trying to time the blast to coincide with a fuel transfer from Martinez to Oakland - missing that transfer and avoiding creation of an even bigger firestorm by seconds."

The bomber's initial charge had torn a jagged 4ft long hole in the fuel line, "which only seconds before the bomb went off was fully pressurized as Shell pumped fuel to Oakland. Had the bomb detonated while the line was pressurized, investigators later said, the conflagration would have been "10 times worse.""

In 2011 a Moraga resident, John Eriksen, recalled a friend of his, Cosette Ellison, mentioning the blast. "She told me how it woke up her family, and how it burned the store and post office," John said. "No one is really sure who did it."
Cosette was later abducted almost exactly 1yr after the bombing, on March 3, 1970. Her body was found in January 1971

MARCH 17
LUNAR PHASE: waning crescent
ZODIAC SIGN: pisces
DAY WEEK: Monday
EVENTS: St. Patrick's Day; Mar. 20 = Spring Equinox (3 days later)

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