On June 14, 2024, at 2:08 p.m., a 52-year-old firefighter with 19 years of firefighting experience died while fighting a fire on a front-end loader. The front-end loader’s left rear tire exploded, and the force struck the firefighter. The accident occurred because the FF was approximately four (4) feet from the tire when a
combustion explosion occurred. The fire on the front-end loader heated the tire and caused a buildup of flammable gases inside the tire, which were ignited. Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD) issued a report, LAC 24-203895, which designated this as a line-of-duty death.