LOS ANGELES — Two people died after a massive explosion set off by fireworks at an Ontario house rocked a residential neighborhood Tuesday, prompting a large response from firefighters and law enforcement.
Ontario Fire Department Chief Ray Gayk said at a media briefing that commercial-grade fireworks set off the fire at a roughly 1-acre residential lot near West Francis Street and Fern Avenue. The Ontario Fire 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.”
No details were immediately available about the two deaths.
Gayk said a horse was injured in the explosion. Video from KABC-TV 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. local time.
The Ontario Fire Department issued an evacuation order for neighboring properties on West Francis and West Maple streets, between Fern and San Antonio avenues. A temporary reception center was set up at the De Anza Community and Teen Center, at 1405 S. Fern Ave.
The city tweeted that a large cache of fireworks ignited at a 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, Ontario spokesman Dan Bell said.
“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.”
More than 50 firefighters were hosing water onto the smoldering fire about 2:30 p.m., more than 90 minutes after the explosion, Bell said. Investigators hadn’t gone inside any of the structures because of the fireworks cache.
“We’re hoping we can get on scene and start this investigation process and get those neighbors home as quickly as possible,” he said.
Hours later, at about 5:40 p.m., someone behind the caution tape yelled “Fire!” as more fireworks crackled from inside the explosion area, and flames flared. Firefighters began blasting water at the property. Neighbors were concerned there could be another explosion.
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.
“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 at Fern and Francis, 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.
Ontario officials said explosions from the fireworks continued to be heard after the initial blast. A video on social media showed a fiery explosion followed by a large plume of smoke.
