Napa mops up after shaky, scary Sunday

Napa continues to restore services and clean up after Sunday morning’s 6.0 earthquake injured more than 170 people and damaged homes, businesses and psyches around the historic Northern California town.

Of 172 patients treated, 13 were admitted with broken bones and respiratory or cardiac conditions, while the rest were treated and released for less severe injuries, Queen of the Valley Medical Center president Walt Mickens said at a news conference Sunday evening.

Only one patient remains in the hospital in critical condition while another, a 13-year-old boy, was airlifted to another trauma center in critical condition after pieces of the fireplace at his home collapsed onto him, Mickens said.

The most common injuries were from household items falling off of walls or shelves onto people or from those who stepped on debris in their homes, he said.

Mickens announced earlier today that 120 people had been treated at the hospital, but that number rose as dozens of people were injured while cleaning up after the quake, he said.

PG&E is working to restore power to thousands of customers this evening as the North Bay, with 7,300 customers remaining without power Sunday evening. Service is estimated to be restored by the end of Sunday, PG&E spokesman J.D. Guidi said.

A majority of the remaining customers without power are in Napa County and are residents or businesses not damaged by the earthquake, Guidi said.

About 70,000 customers lost power in area of Sonoma and Napa counties, according to Guidi. Electricity has since been restored to 62,700 customers with many of those customers in Sonoma County, he said.

Of 439 gas odor calls PG&E has received, crews have visited approximately 400 of those customers and will go to the other 39 sites this evening, Guidi said.

About 20 earthquake-related gas-distribution outages have also been reported at locations with damage, he said. PG&E has also lowered the pressure on its Sonoma/Napa transmission pipeline system and two patrols have been conducted to ensure its safety, Guidi said.

Starting Monday, crews will conduct courtesy gas safety checks at homes and businesses affected by the earthquake. PG&E customers in need of service restoration are asked to call (800) 743-5002.

Amtrak’s Capitol Corridor service has partially resumed and is expected to fully resume Sunday evening after being shut down because of the 6.0-magnitude earthquake near American Canyon early this morning, Amtrak officials said.

Service between Sacramento and Oakland resumed earlier this afternoon while trains will begin running again between Hayward and San Jose by 7 p.m., Amtrak officials said. The tracks were shut down after the earthquake so crews could inspect for possible damage, according to Amtrak.

First-hand reports of the damage from the Napa County earthquake continued to pour in, with an olive oil seller reporting near total inventory loss.

Dewey Lucero, owner of Lucero Olive Oil, at 1012 First St. in Napa, says he lost about 90 percent of his inventory, about 500 bottles of olive oil and balsamic vinegar that retail for $20 a bottle.

Lucero lives in Sacramento, and has a store in that area as well as in Oregon. He says he just opened his Napa store in October. Friends started calling him this morning about the damage, and when he got to the store at 1 p.m., he immediately had to begin repairing the damage.

Lucero says the hardest part of the cleanup is “sucking up the olive oil” from the floors. He also bought of big containers of kitty litter to help absorb the oil.

It is unknown whether there is structural damage to the building, but he does know that he will not be able to open for business tomorrow, Lucero said. In the downtown Napa area, people are walking around taking pictures as all the damage becomes an attraction.

Residents and business owners in Napa are just starting to assess the damage, and one liquor store owner is reporting an estimated $100,000 in losses.

Stever Steve Rodrigues, 44, is the owner of 17-year-old Val’s Liquors at 1531 Third Street in Napa. He says that after the 3:20 a.m. quake, the liquor was “flowing out the front door,” and it also flowed under a wall in the front of the store making it difficult to enter the business. “You couldn’t walk in here,” Rodrigues said.

Immediately after the quake, Rodrigues went home to call friends for help, then came back to the store at 4:30 a.m. and filled two garbage cans full of glass. He and three friends are working to reopen the store, but he won’t be open for business Monday, he said.

Rodrigues lives in the north Linda Vista area of Napa, where he says his house and the houses of his neighbors were all badly damaged. A 200-gallon reef fish tank collapsed and flooded his home, he said.

Despite all the damage, Rodrigues has a positive attitude:

“What can you do but laugh, really? It’s an act of God.”