Community Corner

Bay Area Photographers Receive Awards for Pipeline Explosion Coverage

The photographers from different news agencies won awards at the annual San Francisco Bay Area Press Photographers Association competition.

The San Francisco Bay Area Press Photographers Association today announced the winners of its 37th Annual News Photography and News Video Competition, and this year’s contest had an entire category dedicated to the Sept. 9 gas explosion and fire in the Crestmoor neighborhood.

Karl Mondon, a Bay Area News Group photographer, took first place for his newspaper photography of the explosion. His winning photo, titled “Battling Pipeline Explosion,” shows three firefighters in the middle of trying to douse the blaze while the neighborhood around them is bright-orange from the glow of the flames.

Associated Press photographer Paul Sakuma won second place, Mondon won third place for another one of his explosion photos, and two awards of excellence were given to San Francisco Chronicle photographers Elizabeth Lacy Atkins and Brant Ward.

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The awards were presented at an awards banquet on Sunday at Scott's Restaurant in Oakland.

About 150 photographers and photojournalism students from throughout the Bay Area and Sacramento entered their work from 2010.

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Overall, 24 awards were given out.

KTVU photographer William Erickson also received an award for his live video coverage of the explosion.

To see San Bruno Patch's coverage of the pipeline explosion, check out the ongoing series .

—Bay City News


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