Fallen L.A. County firefighter Andrew Pontious remembered as leader, wildlife lover

Dave Pontious stood at a podium in Cottonwood Church in Los Alamitos on Saturday, unwittingly tattling on himself and his younger brother Andrew as he shared childhood memories of Andrew during the veteran firefighter’s memorial service.

He remembered a summer they spent hunting rattlesnakes in the hillsides of Claremont with pellet guns their parents told them they couldn’t have. The brothers, about 9 and 10 years old, secured them anyway, with the help of an 18-year-old friend.

“We kept them buried in the backyard in a box,” Dave Pontious said. “Our parents never knew. We would take those guns … and we’d go kill rattlesnakes.

“My brother would always do the butchering. He would cut off the rattles, and we thought it was the best thing.”

After Dave Pontious walked off stage, Vince Roldan, the presiding fire chaplain, joked that Pontious’ father texted Roldan to tell Dave that he’s grounded.

Family members, friends and fellow firefighters were gathered to remember 52-year-old Andrew Pontious, a 19-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Fire Department who was killed in the line of duty when part of a burning front-loader exploded in a quarry in Littlerock on June 14.

He leaves behind his wife, Kim, his stepdaughter, Sara, parents Gary and Ellie, and brother Dave, a retired county fire department captain.

Andrew Pontious, referred to as Drew and by his nickname “Uncle,” was remembered as a leader, always out front of everybody leading by example and the last person off the roof, even at 110 degrees. While with the department, he served at stations in El Monte, Rosemead, San Fernando and Palmdale.

Outside of work, he was remembered as a lover of the outdoors and wildlife. He loved to cook, became an accomplished hunter and “made it a point to eat his catch,” L.A. County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said.

Dave Pontious said as children, Dave and a friend would often make his younger brother play the victim when they played “rescue,” tying weights to him and dropping him in the deep end of the pool or tying him using nylon wire and rope to a tree before rushing in to save him.

“My brother was always a good sport, he’d just go along with it,” Dave Pontious said. “He suffered some bumps and bruises, but he never complained.”

A graduate of Humboldt State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Management, Pontious took a job with a lumber company in Arcata as a Spotted Owl spotter, climbing trees and making noises like owls so loggers could avoid their habitats, said Dave Gillotte, a fire captain and president of the Los Angeles County Firefighters Local 1014.

“He would come home and tell us these stories,” Dave Pontious said. “A lot played out like a Hollywood movie.”

Those stories involved encounters with bears, mountain lions and a time he was “chased by Native Americans with guns in a pickup truck because he stumbled upon some native territory,” or being swept down the Trinity River and pulling himself out and finding a decomposed dead body “that belonged to a famed serial killer case,” Dave Pontious said.

But soon thereafter, Dave remembered a phone call in which Drew said he it was time for a career change and “I’m ready to try something different.”

So began his firefighting career.

He was trained at Fire Station 16 by Dave and his crew, Fire Chief Marrone said. He was told to work hard and keep his mouth shut, but found it difficult to do after eating a pesto pasta made with pine nuts with the crew despite having a nut allergy.

“Andy ate it and sat quietly without complaint until finally he had to tell his captain he was having trouble breathing and had to go to the hospital,” Marrone said. “That is one tough guy.”

After helping a stabbing victim during a call, Dave Pontious remembered asking his younger brother, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Yes, yes I do,” was Andrew’s reply, his brother said.

Throughout his career, Andrew Pontious “exemplified what a true public servant is,” Marrone said, characterizing the fallen firefighter as caring, selfless, brave and highly respected.

But he was also a romantic, Marrone said, adding that Andrew Pontious proposed to his wife while on a fishing trip by surprising her with an engagement ring on the end of a fishing line.

“Prioritizing people he loved came easy to Andy,” said Nino Vanillo, a retired firefighter who worked at the station where Andrew Pontious began his career.

“Andy tried to teach me patience, but I have not yet mastered it,” Vanillo said. “Andy improved my life and the lives of many others in so many ways. He will be greatly missed.”

Andrew Pontious also loved rescuing animals, said friends and family, noting multiple occasions in which he helped save dogs, kittens and birds.

One of the last times the brothers rode backward together was while they fought the Bobcat fire, Dave Pontious said, adding that Andy always took care of him, asking him if he was okay, and if his back was okay.

“We were all exhausted. He said ‘Dave, you gotta lay down,” Dave Pontious recalled. “I lay down and he laid down right next to me … it was the last time we got to fight a fire together, and he laid next to me.”

The moment was captured by a fellow firefighter and displayed in the church.

Andrew Pontious was also remembered as being loyal, keeping up with friends from high school, college, his hunting trips and retired colleagues.

“I’m going to miss him. I miss him a ton, but I can go out and talk to him everywhere,” Dave Pontious said. “He was a believer, and I’m not going to put a question mark where God puts a period.”