(CHINO, Calif.) –A man has been arrested for involuntary manslaughter after a woman died and three people were injured from a fireworks explosion in Southern California over the weekend, authorities said.
Investigators believe a large quantity of fireworks ignited, prompting an explosion during 4th of July celebrations Saturday night in Chino, about 35 miles east of Los Angeles, Chino police said. The blast also engulfed a car in flames, police said.
Derion Tradon James Jr., 28, was detained at the scene and later booked on an involuntary manslaughter charge, police said.
“There was a humongous explosion. The explosion was so loud, it’s what I would assume a gas line in a house blew up,” witness Gabriel Gilmore told ABC Los Angeles station KABC. “… The plume of smoke that rose from the floor was equivalent to the size of the house.”
One victim, a woman in her 20s, was taken to a hospital where she died from her injuries, police said on Sunday.
Two other adults suffered serious injuries but are expected to survive, according to police, who said a child was also injured and has since been released from the hospital.
A spokesperson for the Chino police department told ABC News that the investigation into the incident is “active and ongoing,” and that “detectives are continuing to work closely with the Ontario [California] Fire Department’s bomb squad to determine exactly what occurred.”
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