Two dead after explosion of fireworks at Ontario home

Two people died after a massive explosion caused by fireworks at a home in Ontario shook a residential neighborhood on Tuesday, prompting a huge response from firefighters and police.

Ontario fire chief Ray Gayk told a news conference that fireworks for commercial use set a fire in a residential plot of about 1 acre. The Ontario Fire Bomb Squad is cleaning up the area, and several agencies, including the FBI, are investigating the incident.

“They are commercial-grade,” said Gayk, “as you would normally see at the fireworks show.”

Gayk said a horse was injured in the explosion. The ABC-TV channel 7 video showed a horse, spotted with black soot, trotting around the property after firefighters freed him from the wreckage of a building.

Residents across a vast area reported hearing the explosion just before 1 pm near Fern Avenue and Francis Street and feeling the ground shake.

The Ontario Fire Department has issued an evacuation order to neighboring properties on West Francis and West Maple streets, between Fern and San Antonio avenues. A temporary reception center was installed at the De Anza Community and Youth Center, at Av. S. Fern, 1405.

The city tweeted that a large cache of fireworks lit up in a house, setting fire to the residence. The smoke can be seen from as far away as Anaheim.

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

“The roof is gone, burnt,” Bell said of the back property. “The one in front – I was on the street; I could see the flames coming from the roof. It will probably be a total loss. “

More than 50 firefighters were pouring water on the latent fire at about 2:30 pm, more than 90 minutes after the explosion, Bell said. Investigators have not yet entered any of the structures because of the fireworks, he said.

“We hope to be able to enter the scene and start this investigation process and take the neighbors home as soon as possible.”

Jennifer Nalbandian, 43, was sitting on her living room sofa when the explosion, which she said looked like an earthquake, rocked her home.

“My daughter said to me, ‘No, Mom, I think it came from heaven,'” said Nalbandian. She started to pick up things that had fallen in her apartment. Then she opened the front door.

“The explosion pushed me back and the window crashed,” she said. “I was hit by the subsequent explosion when I opened the door.”

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

“Fireworks always explode here. This shook the entire apartment from left to right, ”she said.

Oscar Vargas Ibarra, 17, who lives two houses below the blast site, said he and his brother ran for the door when the first blast occurred. They grabbed their dog and struggled to jump out of the door in fear before running out into the street. When the second biggest explosion happened, “it was when everyone ran, they ran to save their lives,” said Oscar.

Some neighbors were aware of the fireworks in the neighborhood long before Tuesday’s explosion. Oscar said he knew that the people who lived in the house now on fire had “some fireworks”, but he was unaware of the extent of his stock.

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

Flying debris shattered windows and overturned televisions at Oscar Martinez’s home in Fern and Francis, a few houses away from the blast site. Martinez and six other members of his family were not injured, but the 21-year-old was shaken. He said that fireworks exploded in his neighborhood every few weeks, usually around midnight.

Ontario officials said explosions of fireworks continued to be heard after the initial explosion. A video on social media showed an explosion of fire followed by a large cloud of smoke.