"It was like an IED," David Pontious, Andrew's brother who worked at the same Palmdale fire station before retiring this spring, said, referring to an improvised explosive device, as a roadside bomb in a war zone is known.
"It's shrapnel. It's just like a bomb. It's the same principle," said Olivier Bellavigna-Ladoux, a mechanical engineer who specializes in vehicle safety.
"There was no knowledge that these kinds of big tires could blow in such a way that could kill someone," said David Pontious, highlighting the lack of awareness in firefighting practices.
In the niche world of vehicle safety engineers, it was a known risk - rare but lethal. To firefighters across California, the threat was essentially unheard of until highlighted by Pontious' death.
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