NU Online News Service, Sept. 13, 2:20 p.m. EDT

Many of the residents driven from their homes after a pipeline exploded Thursday in San Bruno, Calif., were allowed to return to their homes, but more than 80 homeowners were not allowed to return.

On Sunday, the city of San Bruno issued a statement saying that residents in 293 homes were allowed to return to their homes. However, 84 households were still not allowed back in their homes either because the homes were completely destroyed, suffered extensive damage, or were in a police perimeter closest to the blast.

A building inspection report posted on the city's website said 49 homes were extensively damaged and 10 others showed some sign of damage and could be unsafe to live in.

A meeting is being held today with the city and those residents to determine what the next will be.

Insurers said they are sending teams to help policyholders with their claims. Both Farmers Insurance and Mercury Insurance said mobile claims representatives were sent out to evacuation sites to help with processing claims.

The official death count stands at four, but there were conflicting reports over whether more victims to Thursday's explosion and fire were recovered.

One report said officials combing the ruins found what appeared to be the remains of two people. The Los Angeles Times said at one point city officials put the death count at as many as seven but later retracted that to the original four because the coroner's office had not confirmed any new fatalities.

A spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, which is the agency investigating the pipeline blast, said a 29-foot section of the 30-inch steel pipe was blown about 100 feet into the air, confirming that there was a tremendous amount of force that caused the blast.

Reports say residents were complaining of the odor of smoke in the area for days before the blast.

A letter issued by Chris Johns, president of Pacific Gas & Electric Company, responsible for the natural gas pipeline, said an answer to the cause of the blast would take weeks, possibly months.

"If it is determined that we were responsible for the cause of this incident, we will take accountability," he said.

The company said it has committed $1 million to a special charity to support families that would be distributed through such organizations as the American Red Cross, United Way and blood centers.

Around 60 people were reported injured, some with severe burns that require operations.

On Friday, Robert Hartwig, president of the Insurance Information Institute, said that from available reports on the incident he estimated that insured losses would amount to tens of millions of dollars.

PG&E said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it has approximately $992 million in liability with a $10 million deductible.

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