Fireworks Company Blast Kills 1 Worker

Aerial fireworks being loaded onto a truck from a warehouse erupted in flames and explosions Friday, killing one employee, injuring another and showering a housing tract with burned debris.

Damage was contained to the fireworks company, Pyro Spectaculars, a fourth-generation family-owned firm renowned for its pyrotechnic displays. Most recently, it staged the fireworks show for the opening and closing ceremonies at the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta.

The cause of the blast was unknown, but it was apparently ignited in the truck as it was being loaded with fireworks for shipment out of state, said Kevin E. Brown, emergency services coordinator for the Rialto Fire Department.

The flames quickly spread to the warehouse, but firefighters limited the fire to half of the structure, which is divided into sections with substantial firewalls, Brown said.

More than 30 other employees, scattered about the 150-acre site of the fireworks assembly and storage buildings, ran to safety.

Witnesses said flames and fireworks shot more than 100 feet into the air, with some aerial bombs whistling over a residential neighborhood.

Rod Einfalt, a Los Angeles County firefighter who lives about 800 feet from the warehouse, said he felt the ground shudder before he heard the explosions and looked out from his garage to see the eruption.

“Imagine the grand finale of a July 4th fireworks display, then multiply it by 400 or 500,” he said. “It sounded like a thousand mortar shells going off.”

His front lawn--like those of his neighbors--was littered with the burned paper and cardboard remnants of large fireworks.

Other neighbors said they mistook the explosions for a huge gun battle--an assumption bolstered by the sight of a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department helicopter that coincidentally was flying over the site when the explosions began.

Brown said firefighters’ success in controlling the fire was a benefit of previous fire drills at the fireworks company.

The identity of the victim was not released Friday. Another worker was treated for smoke inhalation.

“We cannot begin to express the sense of loss we feel about this incident that took the life of our colleague and longtime friend,” said James Souza, president of Pyro Spectaculars.

A company spokesman said that the explosion was the first incident of its type at the site, and that agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms inspected the plant last month without complaint.