Victim of Fireworks Explosion Identified

The fireworks factory worker killed when aerial pyrotechnics being moved from a Rialto warehouse exploded in flames was identified Saturday as a 57-year-old San Bernardino man.

Gerald Fliedner was identified through dental records, according to Tom Dewhirst, a San Bernardino County deputy coroner.

The fiery blast Friday at Pyro Spectaculars injured one other employee and showered a nearby residential neighborhood with cardboard fireworks wrappers and other debris.

Authorities said the explosion apparently was ignited in a truck being loaded for a shipment out of state. Flames that quickly spread to the warehouse were contained by a special firewall and extinguished by Rialto firefighters.

Fliedner’s death was ruled accidental, Dewhirst said.

A spokesman for the fireworks company--renowned nationwide for aerial displays such as those it recently staged for the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta--said the explosion was the first such accident at the site.