Six people still hospitalized after Fresno gas line explosion

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Six people are still being treated at Community Regional Medical Center after Friday's gas line explosion in Northwest Fresno.

Four, including the Fresno County worker who struck the line with a backhoe, are in critical condition. Two are in serious condition.

All but the county worker are Fresno County Jail inmates.

Meanwhile, the investigation into the exact cause of the explosion continues. Local PG&E spokesman Jeff Smith was on site Monday, and said aerial inspections of the gas line had been conducted as recent as this month. Smith says that PG&E was not notified that work was being done at the site.

"The pipeline has been tested for integrity and showed no sign of any leaks and when we physically were out in 2013 to check the depth, it was 40 inches below ground," Smith said.

The California Public Utilities Commission says its investigation is continuing into whether there were any violations of state or federal law by PG&E, and will work quickly with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

"The stage that we're at right now is collecting as much forensic evidence as can be conducted," Smith said. "That will then be analyzed. The analysis of that will likely take a few weeks in order to go through all that data."

From there, PG&E will repair the transmission line, which Smith said could also take at least two weeks.

A spokesperson with Union Pacific Railroad said workers were putting the finishing touches on the 400 feet of replaced track after the old track was damaged on Friday from the heat.

That patch of track reopened to trains on Saturday, but trains will travel at a slower speed limit of 10 miles per hour.