Two dead after fireworks spark massive explosion at Ontario house

Two people died after a massive explosion set off by fireworks at an Ontario house rocked a residential neighborhood Tuesday.

(Los Angeles Times)

Ontario Fire Department Chief Ray Gayk said at a media briefing that commercial-grade fireworks started the fire at a roughly 1-acre residential lot near West Francis Street and Fern Avenue. The fire department’s bomb squad is clearing the area, and several agencies, including the FBI, are investigating the incident.

“They are commercial grade,” Gayk said, “like you would normally see in the fireworks show.”

Ontario Fire Department crew treat 72-year-old David Nguyen, whose foot was injured as he rushed out of his home after a massive blast caused by exploding fireworks shook the neighborhood.

(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

The two people who died in the blast had not been identified as of Tuesday evening. Their bodies had not been removed from the scene, officials said, citing the ongoing dangerous conditions.

Gayk said a horse was injured in the explosion. Video from KABC-TV Channel 7 showed a horse, smudged with black soot, trotting around the property after firefighters freed it from one building’s wreckage.

Residents across a vast area reported hearing the blast and feeling the ground shake shortly before 1 p.m.

The Ontario Fire Department issued an evacuation order for neighboring properties on West Francis and West Maple streets, between Fern and San Antonio avenues.

The city tweeted that a large cache of fireworks ignited at the house, setting the residence on fire. Smoke could be seen from as far away as Anaheim.

Two structures on the same lot — a front and back house — were engulfed in flames after the explosion, said Dan Bell, a spokesman for the city of Ontario.

“The roof is gone, burned out,” Bell said of the rear property. “The one on the front — I was on the street; I could see flames coming through the roof. It will most likely be a total loss.”

Investigators did not enter any of the structures Tuesday due to the danger posed by remaining fireworks.

“We’re hoping we can get on scene and start this investigation process and get those neighbors home as quickly as possible,” Bell said.

At about 5:40 p.m., someone behind the caution tape yelled “Fire!” as more fireworks crackled from inside the blast area and flames flared. Firefighters began cascading water at the property. Neighbors were concerned there could be another explosion.

By 7 p.m., fire officials still did not think it safe enough to bring crews onto the smoldering property. With flareups occasionally sending flames into the air, units were pulled back into a defensive position around the perimeter.

“The reason for that is the debris field was larger than we originally anticipated,” Gayk said during an evening media briefing. “And out of an abundance of caution, we wanted to make sure that all of our personnel were safe.”

Authorities could take as long as four days to declare the area safe, Ontario Police Chief Michael Lorenz said.

Scores of residents in the immediate blast area were barred from returning to their homes. Bell said city officials would provide housing for those who needed it overnight. Evacuees were advised to seek help with housing at an evacuation post set up at De Anza Community and Teen Center at 1405 S. Fern Ave.

Jennifer Nalbandian, 43, said she was sitting on the couch in her living room when the initial explosion, which she said felt like an earthquake, shook her house.

“My daughter says to me, ‘No, Mom, I think it came from the sky,’ ” Nalbandian said. She began picking up things around her apartment that had fallen. Then she opened her front door.

Debris is scattered after a massive blast caused by exploding fireworks in the 1700 block of Fern Avenue in Ontario.

(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

“The boom pushed me back, and the window shattered,” she said. “I got hit with the after-blast when I opened the door.”

The structures that were destroyed in the blast were visible from her balcony, Nalbandian said.

“Fireworks always go off over here. It shook the whole apartment from left to right,” she said.

Oscar Vargas Ibarra, 17, who lives two houses from the site of the explosion, said he and his brother rushed for the door when the first blast hit. They grabbed their dog before bolting across the street. When the second, larger explosion hit, “that’s when everyone ran, ran for their lives,” Oscar said.

Some neighbors were aware of the fireworks in the neighborhood long before Tuesday’s explosion. Oscar said he knew that the people who lived at the now-smoldering home had “a few fireworks,” but he hadn’t been aware of the extent of their stockpile.

“They always pop them off, random sometimes, like at night shows or a holiday,” he said.

Flying debris shattered windows and toppled televisions in Oscar Martinez’s home a few houses from the site of the blast. Martinez and six other members of his household were uninjured, but the 21-year-old was nevertheless shaken. He said fireworks go off in their neighborhood every few weeks, usually around midnight.

While the Ontario police have fielded numerous calls about fireworks in the area, Lorenz said late Tuesday that they had not received a complaint regarding the property that erupted in flames.