By Christopher Weber
LOS ANGELES (AP) --An explosion at an industrial park near Los Angeles on Tuesday injured four people, three of them critically, authorities said.
The blast was reported at 4:45 p.m. in a neighborhood of Santa Clarita, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) miles north of downtown Los Angeles. It sparked a small brushfire that was quickly contained.
The blast site was first reported as a movie set, and there are film production facilities for rent nearby. However, authorities later described it as taking place at an industrial park.
"We don't know what the business was," said Jonathan Matheny, public information officer for the Los Angeles County Fire Department. "We have no intelligence that leads us to believe that there was any filming of any sort going on."
The industrial park houses businesses that "range the entire gamut," including a brewery, storage units, recreational vehicle storage areas and parked tractor-trailers, Matheny said.
There also are other businesses and a housing tract nearby.
The explosion left three men with serious burns. Matheny said they were taken to the hospital in critical but stable condition.
A fourth man later "walked into the ER" for treatment, Matheny said. There was no immediate word on his condition.
Fire spread to a grassy hillside but firefighters were able to quickly douse the flames, Matheny said.
There was no immediate word on what caused the explosion.
SMPTE elects board officers, regional governors
SMPTE®,the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has revealed the board officers and regional governors who will serve terms beginning in January 2025.
Three new officers--Richard Welsh as SMPTE president, Eric Gsell as SMPTE executive VP, and Polly Hickling as SMPTE Education VP--have been elected for a two-year term from Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2026. One SMPTE officer, Lisa Hobbs, will be continuing her service as SMPTE secretary and treasurer for another two-year term. Additionally, Raymond Yeung will be stepping into the role of standards VP on Jan. 1, 2025.
“SMPTE’s membership has spoken,” said SMPTE interim executive director Sally-Ann D’Amato. “These officers have been tasked with an important responsibility, one each of them is prepared to tackle head-on. These next two years are looking bright for SMPTE!”
In addition to the officers, 10 regional governors were elected by the Society to serve two-year 2025-2026 terms.
These include the following regional governors, re-elected to continue their service:
Asia-Pacific Region Governor
Tony Ngai, Society of Motion Imaging Ltd.
EMEA - Central & South America Region Governor
Fernando Bittencourt, FB Consultant
United Kingdom Region Governor
Chris Johns, Sky UK.
USA - Central Region Governor
William T. Hayes, Consultant
USA - Eastern Region Governor
Dover Jeanne Mundt, Riedel Communications
USA - Western Region Governor
Jeffrey F. Way, Open Drives
Also elected were four newcomers to the SMPTE Board:
Canada Region Governor
Jonathan Jobin, Grass Valley
USA - Hollywood Region Governor
Allan Schollnick, Voxx... Read More