Family sues after Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy dies from fire in mobile gun range

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — The family of a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy filed a wrongful death lawsuit Monday against the law enforcement agency after he died from being critically injured in a fire that broke out inside a mobile gun range.

Deputy Alfredo “Freddy” Flores died April 20 after enduring third-degree burns across most of his body and a period of medical complications, six months after the fire on Oct. 10, 2023. He was performing a mandatory firearm recertification inside a trailer that serves as a mobile shooting range when it caught on fire at the department's Pitchess Detention Center about 30 miles (48.3 kilometers) north of Los Angeles.

Another deputy with him was also seriously injured. Flores was participating in firearms qualification which the department requires deputies to do once a quarter, Sheriff Robert Luna said in October 2023.

His family filed a lawsuit suit seeking damages for constitutional violations, negligence and product liability, alleging the fire started because officials failed to properly maintain the mobile gun range.

The LA County Sheriff's Department did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

The lawsuit alleges the sheriff's department allowed a “dangerous accumulation of unburned gunpowder residue, lead, propellant, and/or other combustible material” which ignited suddenly to start the fire.

According to the lawsuit, there are well-documented prior instances of fires in mobile shooting ranges in California as well as other ranges operated by the LA County Sheriff's Department. There is also “documentation of violations” by the department related to unsafe practices in the operation and maintenance of its mobile shooting ranges, the suit said.

The family is also seeking relief from Inveris Training Solutions, the manufacturer of the trailer. Mobile Inveris shooting ranges are “defectively designed” and have a high risk of fires from a buildup of the combustible material that isn't properly cleaned and ventilated, the lawsuit said.

The suit asks for injunctive relief to stop the county's operations of its mobile gun ranges, compensation for damages as well as civil penalties.

Flores was a deputy for 22 years and his assignments included the North County Correctional Facility and Altadena Station. He is survived by his wife, two daughters and two sons.