CPUC: Fresno County Responsible for Gun Range Pipeline Explosion

FRESNO, Calif. (KMJ) — The California Public Utilities Commission says Fresno County was at fault for the pipeline explosion at the Sheriff’s Foundation gun range last year, which killed a jail inmate.

52-year-old Jeremiah Espino was among two other inmates and a county equipment operator who were injured last May, when a tractor struck a PG&E line.

The CPUC says nothing suggests that the utility failed to meet state requirements, nor was corrosion of the pipe a factor.

The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office also failed to called the 811 number required by law, before an excavation may occur.