Gas Co. Faults Dispatcher in Lakewood Home Blast : Tragedy: She is called irresponsible for not sending out a crew after call about a leak. Three were burned.

The Southern California Gas Co. on Thursday said a dispatcher acted irresponsibly by not sending out a service crew after a neighbor complained about a loud hiss coming from a Lakewood home, where a gas explosion 48 hours later critically injured a family of three.

Officials, who released a transcript of the call, said company policy dictates that emergency workers be dispatched within two hours, or at least by the next morning, if they suspect a gas line is leaking outside a house.

“I believe that the lady who called in gave enough information to warrant sending someone out,” said Lee Harrington, vice president of operations for the gas company. “We’re not happy in this case. I do not believe our high standards for safety and for customer service were met.”

Harrington identified the dispatcher only as a 23-year veteran of the company who was finishing an eight-hour graveyard shift when she received the call Sunday night. He said she has been placed on paid leave pending the outcome of the investigation. She also was ordered to take a drug test, Harrington said, but the results are not yet available.

On Tuesday, two days after the call, a fiery explosion blew the roof off the home in the 4500 block of Eastbrook Avenue, severely burning Debra J. Bell, 34, and her two children, Kizzie, 5, and Charles, 4. All three remained in critical condition Thursday, awaiting skin-graft surgery at the Sherman Oaks Community Hospital burn center.

In a transcript of the call, which was made at 11:44 p.m. and lasted about three to four minutes, a customer told the dispatcher that her neighbor’s gas meter was “making a hissing noise.”

The dispatcher asked if the neighbors were home. The customer--identified as Gerry McNulty--said the house was dark and she did not want to disturb them. The dispatcher asked if McNulty was currently smelling gas. McNulty said she was not, but had earlier in the day.

“Well, I would--I would, ummmm, let them know and have them call,” the dispatcher said, according to the transcript. “If, if there’s no gas over there, ma’am, they are not expecting us to come out now, especially if there’s no gas smell. Are you sure it’s just not a noisy meter?”

“Well . . .” McNulty said.

“As long as there’s not no odor, then there’d be no real concern to come out there tonight, ma’am,” the dispatcher later said. She added: “Maybe they are using something in the house to make the meter make noise . . . They could have the heater going.”

“I seriously doubt that today,” said McNulty. The temperature reached a high of 92 degrees Sunday. “Let’s speak common sense here.”

“Well, ma’am, I’m talking common sense,” the dispatcher said.

“No, you’re not,” McNulty said.

“Ma’am, I’m not going to argue with you,” the dispatcher said. “I suggest that you go next door and talk to your neighbors and tell them what you feel.”

“OK, I thank you for all your concern,” McNulty said.

Gas company officials did not release an audio version of the tape for legal reasons, but Harrington said he had listened to it and found the dispatcher’s tone “not as polite and service-oriented as we would have liked it to be.”

He said the cause of the explosion had not yet been determined, although investigators suspect it might have stemmed from a cracked connecting line, which had been wrapped in red plastic tape where it met the Bell family’s stove.

Harrington said the hissing sound at the meter could have been caused by excessive gas use, possibly resulting from a leak in the house. Inspectors, he said, have tested gas lines in the neighborhood and the main line to Bell’s house and detected no leaks.

“All I know is there was a lot of gas in the home,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Terry Danielson of the department’s arson-explosives detail, which is trying to determine the cause of the leak and what ignited it. “That house is totally devastated. There is nothing left that is not blown up.”

As is required by law, the gas company reported the explosion to the Public Utilities Commission, which could assess fines if the company is found to be negligent, said Russ Copeland, chief of the utilities safety branch. Copeland added, however, that the thrust of the investigation is to determine if procedures need to be changed to ensure such an incident never happens again.

A gas crew went to the Bell residence in July to reconnect service that had been discontinued for failure to pay a bill, but did not observe any problems, Harrington said. A meter reader again went by the home on Sept. 13, but also did not note any leaks, he said. Although relatives said that Bell had frequently mentioned she was concerned about a gas smell, there was no record she had ever reported a problem to the gas company, Harrington said.

Hospital officials said Charles, 4, suffered burns over 50% of his body; Kizzie, 5, suffered burns over 40% of her body; and their mother sustained third-degree burns over 75% of her body, including her face, arms, legs and back. All three are scheduled for surgery today hospital spokeswoman Johna Rogovin said.

A fund to assist the family was established in Debra Bell’s name at the Security Pacific National Bank branch on Woodruff Avenue in Lakewood. At Hughes Aircraft Co. in Long Beach, where Bell worked as a secretary, employees were encouraged to contribute. Southern California Gas has donated $5,000 to the family, Harrington said.

Meanwhile, county mental health workers arranged a meeting at the Lakewood High School auditorium Thursday afternoon to console neighbors traumatized by the explosion, which shattered windows in five other homes and blew debris two block away.

Mental health workers, who canvassed the neighborhood and handed out flyers, determined that some residents were “pretty shaken up,” said Brenda Gentry, psychiatric technician at the county’s Rio Hondo Community Mental Health Clinic in Cerritos.

“The mental health department will try to address feelings of inadequacy, particularly by those people who were first on the scene and might be saying, ‘Gosh, I should have done this or I could have done that,’ ” Gentry said. “We’ll try to help them accept their feelings of anger and anxiety.”