L.A. County firefighter killed in explosion in Antelope Valley

Libor Jany

14 June 2024 at 8:35 pm·2-min read

One Los Angeles County firefighter was killed and another injured Friday in an explosion that ripped through an Antelope Valley quarry as fire crews responded to a burning front loader, officials said.

Authorities identified the firefighter who died as Andrew Pontious, a nearly two-decade veteran of the fire service who was most recently assigned to a four-member fire engine at Station 93 in Palmdale.

“A wonderful man. He was married. He was a father. It’s just such, such a tragedy,” said county Fire Chief Anthony Marrone.

As of Friday evening, officials hadn’t released any details about what caused the explosion, which occurred in the early afternoon in the 6500 block of East Avenue T in the Palmdale area.

L.A. County firefighter Andrew Pontious was a nearly two-decade veteran of the fire service. (Los Angeles County Fire Department)

Speaking to reporters Friday evening, Marrone said the firefighters were battling flames that hadengulfed “a very, very large articulated front loader that was working in a quarry” when the blast occurred.

“And I don’t know what exploded,” Marrone said during a news conference at Antelope Valley Medical Center.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Cmdr. Mark Reyes said the agency’s homicide bureau andarson unit had started a death investigation, but it was too early to say what caused the explosion.

Hours after the blast, a KTLA-TV Channel 5 helicopter showed firefighters continuing to spray water on the front loader.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger offered her condolences to the firefighter’s family and colleagues, saying his death was “a sobering reminder of the dangers our first responders face every day.”

“We owe them our steadfast support as they grapple with this loss,” she said in a statement.

“I’m committed to ensuring our fire personnel are connected with needed mental health support as they grieve.”

In a statement, L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn said that Pontious left behind a wife and stepdaughter.

A Los Angeles County firefighter was killed in a explosion — An overview of the area where a Los Angeles County firefighter was killed and another injured in an explosion Friday. (KTLA)

Barger said that another firefighter was taken to a hospital with minor injuries but was expected to be released.

Earlier this year, nine L.A. city firefighters were injured when a tank of compressed natural gas exploded while they were working to extinguish a semitruck fire.

Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

HuffPost UK
Trevor Phillips Destroys Nigel Farage With One Devastating Question
The Reform UK leader rejected the accusation that his party is a home for racists.
The Telegraph
A Labour landslide would leave the UK unrecognisable
Until now, Sir Keir Starmer has carefully hidden the Labour Party’s radical, hard-Left agenda from the public. But on the brink of the largest majority in nearly a century, his mask has slipped.
The Independent
Led by Donkeys interrupt Nigel Farage speech by lowering huge Putin banner
Nigel Farage was initially unaware that the Russian president was on the poster, with the words ‘I heart Nigel’ written below
CNN
A year ago, she drank battery acid to escape life under the Taliban. Today, she has a message for other Afghan girls
Arzo survived a suicide attempt but now faces a new threat that could send her family – and millions like them – back to Afghanistan and a life that has become so intolerable for women and girls that some would rather die.
The Telegraph
Woman charged after video allegedly showed prison officer having sex with inmate
A woman has been charged after a video emerged that allegedly showed a prison officer having sex with an inmate in a jail cell.
Manchester Evening News
Spanish police WON'T say if club altercation over 'wealthy man's missing designer watch' is linked to Jay Slater's disappearance in Tenerife
It comes as the search for Jay Slater around the Masca areas is called off
Manchester Evening News
Footage shows out-of-control XL Bully being chased by armed cops before being shot dead following horror attack on woman
GMP said the dog had to be destroyed 'as the last possible option'
HuffPost UK
Rishi Sunak Left Squirming As He's Confronted With Ordinary People's Lives In Tory Britain
The prime minister had insisted life was "better" now than when the party came to power in 2010.
The Telegraph
Old, rich and living on benefits: welcome to the state pension capital of Britain
East Preston feels an unlikely stronghold of benefits dependency. The genteel village on the West Sussex coast might be the closest thing that Britain has to a moneyed pensioner utopia.
Manchester Evening News
Tracy was abducted, doused in petrol and burnt alive. Her killers are still out there
Tracy Mertens, of Rochdale, was 30 when she was abducted, doused in petrol, set on fire and left to die in a churchyard
The Independent
A pair of siblings were stabbed and the sister’s dying words were that the killer was a man from Detroit. Thirty-four years later, he’s been arrested.
Pamela Sumpter, was raped and stabbed, and her brother John Sumpter was stabbed to death, at their Georgia home on July 15, 1990
CNN Business
One of the world’s richest men wants to transform India’s biggest slum
When Masoom Ali Shaikh arrived in Mumbai in 1974 as a young man from northern India, the patch of land where he set up shop was “just a creek with no proper road and garbage all around,” he said.
CNN
Russia wants to confront NATO but dares not fight it on the battlefield – so it’s waging a hybrid war instead
When someone tried – and failed – to burn down a bus garage in Prague earlier this month, the unsuccessful arson attack didn’t draw much attention. Until, that is, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala revealed it was “very likely” that Moscow was behind it.
The Independent
British hiker, 70, found dead in Spain as ‘massive’ search operation for Jay Slater begins
It comes as the hunt for missing teenager Jay Slater continues in Tenerife
Manchester Evening News
In a 'run-down town that feels forgotten', some say they're rooting for Reform
“I don’t want the two main parties to get in. I know they probably will anyway, but I’m voting Reform.”
Evening Standard
Boy, 12, referred to counter-extremist Prevent officers for saying 'there are only two genders' in video
Agency swooped after child said ‘there's no such thing as non-binary,’ according to mother
PA Media: UK News
Rishi Sunak: I’ll still be Prime Minister on Friday
The Conservative leader defended his party’s record in government against what he described as a ‘declinist narrative’.
The Telegraph
Fears of ‘undue spiritual influence’ on voters as community leaders ‘highlight Islamic values’
Almost a decade ago, the mayor of Tower Hamlets was sensationally removed from office after an electoral court found him guilty of a string of “corrupt and illegal practices” including ballot rigging, bribery and buying votes.
CNN
Pelosi: Some health experts think Trump has dementia
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi tells CNN’s Dana Bash that “if we’re just talking about mental acuity, let’s be fair about it.”
The Telegraph
How do you get rid of a dictator? Here are some tips
In an age when dictators and authoritarian regimes are all the rage, it becomes all the more imperative for peace-loving democrats to consider ways of getting rid of them. Yet on some happy – albeit rare – occasions, the more repellent members of the dictatorial species, by dint of incompetence or arrogance, manage to do the job themselves.

Latest stories