A man has been arrested for involuntary manslaughter after a woman was killed and three other people were injured from a fireworks explosion in Southern California over the holiday weekend, authorities said.

Officers responded at about 8:30 p.m. local time on July 4 to a reported vehicle fire in a neighborhood in the city of Chino, California, the Chino Police Department said in a news release. Chino is located in western San Bernardino County, about 35 miles east of Los Angeles.

When officers arrived, police said they found that an explosion had occurred and multiple people had been injured. Officers immediately provided first aid to several victims with serious injuries. A nearby vehicle was also engulfed in flames as a result of the explosion, according to police.

“Based on the preliminary investigation, detectives believe a large quantity of fireworks ignited, causing the explosion,” police said in the news release, adding that the incident remains under investigation.

Derion Tradon James Jr., 28, was detained at the scene and later booked into the West Valley Detention Center for involuntary manslaughter, police said. The case will be submitted to the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office for review.

Following the incident, police said investigators and fire personnel remained at the scene as they worked to ensure the area was safe and evaluate any remaining fireworks, debris and other hazards. Several nearby roadways were closed over the weekend.

The Chino Police Department is leading the criminal investigation. The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner will conduct the death investigation, while the Ontario Fire Department Bomb Squad is assisting investigators with the explosives-related part of the case.

Woman died at hospital after sustaining severe injuries

Three people were transported to local hospitals with severe injuries, according to police. One of the victims, a woman in her 20s, later died from her injuries at a hospital.

Her identity is being withheld pending identification and notification of next of kin by the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner, police said.

The two other victims suffered serious injuries and are expected to survive, police said. Their identities have not been released.

A fourth victim, who police described as a juvenile, was taken to a hospital for evaluation and “has since been released to a parent or guardian,” according to the news release.

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Latest fireworks-related incident during July Fourth celebrations

Ahead of July Fourth celebrations, experts had warned the public to stay safe around fireworks, citing a spike in the number of fireworks-related fatalities in 2025.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), there were 15 deaths and 13,000 injuries in the United States attributed to either the misuse of or malfunctions with fireworks. Of those, 1,300 emergency-room-treated injuries were caused by sparklers.

About 68% of all fireworks injuries occur in July; July Fourth is the most injury-prone day, with 27% of total injuries, USA TODAY previously reported. New Year’s Day is the second-largest, with 5.5% of total injuries.

Numerous incidents involving fireworks were reported across the country over the holiday weekend, including several in Southern California.

In Los Angeles County, the fire department said a man was critically injured after a fire burned at least two cars in a parking lot in the Wilmington neighborhood on July 3. The incident also prompted the evacuation of a nearby hotel and a two-story single-family home, displacing 10 adults and two children.

After extinguishing the flames with foam, crews discovered “what appeared to be potentially dangerous explosives/fireworks” near the vehicles, and the Los Angeles Police Department bomb squad determined that “commercial grade fireworks” were found on the ground next to the burned vehicles, according to the department.

Fourth of July celebrations in Newport Beach, California, a coastal city in Orange County, led to over 400 arrests after large crowds became disorderly, according to police. “As the crowd rapidly grew, individuals engaged in increasingly dangerous and unlawful behavior” including by “blocking roadways, restricting emergency vehicle access and throwing explosive mortars, fireworks and other projectiles at police officers,” the city of Newport Beach said.

Contributing: Stephen J. Beard and Paris Barraza, USA TODAY

Activists are pushing for Black English to be legitimized in preschool as a way to build children’s literacy skills in California.

The Black Californians United for Early Care & Education (BlackECE) is part of a movement to challenge “harmful language hierarchies and affirm Black English as a legitimate, rule-governed language rooted in Black history, culture, and community.”

The movement also seeks to “address how language bias shows up in early learning spaces–and how it can be dismantled.”

“I don’t want my son to walk into any room and feel like his voice is not valued or his perspective can’t be heard because he’s not saying it one way or the other,” the co-founder of BlackECE Ashley Williams told PBS.

She also remembered how speaking Black English is full of slangs and grammatical errors so it came with a lot of embarrassment.

BlackECE is a nonprofit organization centered around a 10-point policy plan that seeks to gain reparations and help Black children, families, and workers.

California released a plan promoting early dual language learning and calling on the state’s education system to support bilingual children in their development in 2020, but the advocacy group believes that Black vernacular should be included.

“We talk about multilinguals, but we don’t include Black children who may be African-American English speakers,” the Director of the Children’s Equity Project Xigrid Soto-Boykin said.

Williams also recalled her experiences in having to “talk white” and talking in her comfortable English and feeling insecure.

Around 20% of American children and 44% of five to seventeen year-olds in California are considered to be bilingual, according to the National Library of Medicine’s research in 2020.

However, only 89% of African-Americans solely speak English at home.

Fireworks can frighten animals and send them scattering, but Jackie and Shadow’s eaglets apparently are made of sterner stuff.

Chicks Luna and Sandy were seen safe and sound Sunday morning around 6 a.m. on the popular livestream nest cam aimed at their Big Bear pine tree, snacking on fish in the family aerie.

Mom and Dad did fly off when the nearby Fourth of July holiday show promoted by tourism organization Visit Big Bear began on Saturday night, Big Bear Valley media and website manager Jennifer Voisard told the Orange County Register on Sunday morning.

But both bald eagles flew back to their nest Sunday morning to care for their eaglets, who had remained around the nest during the show.

The fireworks show has faced controversy regarding the famous avians, spawning a Change.org petition to move the festivities farther away or switch to an environmentally friendlier drone show.

More than 45,000 people signed the petition. But the show went on for the sake of the local economy.

There was particular anxiety this year among environmental advocates as the eaglets were on the cusp of flying as the event was planned. The pair took their first flights just days beforehand. They had been spotted in nearby trees but didn’t immediately return to the nest.

The nonprofit that operates the webcam, Friends of Big Bear Valley, wrote a letter to officials warning that, “whether they are still in the nest or newly fledged, they will depend on Jackie and Shadow to care for them.”

“If, as in the past, Jackie and Shadow were to flee the habitat area for a few days, this could put the eaglets in danger at this important time of their lives.”

To the relief of their fans, the parents did return.

The fireworks event is an important economic driver in a year when Big Bear saw less snow than usual during its peak winter months, the travel organization said.

“The fireworks show is a long-standing community tradition and an important economic driver for Big Bear’s local businesses, workers, restaurants, lodging properties, recreation providers, and families. That context is especially important this year after another low-to-no snow winter, which directly impacted many of our neighbors, employees, and small businesses,” Visit Big Bear said in a statement.

It said the show happens about two miles away from Jackie and Shadow’s nest and lasted only about 30 minutes.

The eagles — and occasionally their chicks — could be seen on Friends of Big Bear Valley’s livestream heading into Sunday evening.