By Gail Wesson
The Press Enterprise
BEAR VALLEY, Calif. — An off-duty U.S. Forest Service fire captain riding his motorcycle in the Big Bear area died Friday after a pickup truck making a left turn struck him, according to a San Bernardino County coroner’s office news release.
Gabriel Pomona, 36, was taken to Bear Valley Community Hospital where he died of his injuries almost an hour later at 6:55 p.m. The accident was on North Shore Drive at Tinkerbell Avenue.
Mr. Pomona had been a crew captain with the Big Bear Hotshots since 2008. He joined the U.S. Forest Service on a hand crew in the Sierra National Forest in 1995 and became a firefighter before he joined the Sierra Hotshots for three years, according to a Forest Service news release.
He came to the San Bernardino National Forest Mountaintop Ranger District in 1999 as an apprentice on a fire engine in Big Bear. In 2001, he assisted with certification of the new Big Bear hand crew and became a squad boss. He also was involved in certification of the Big Bear Hotshots in 2003 as a type one interagency hotshot crew.
From 2006 to 2008, he was a captain with the Crane Valley Hotshots on the Sierra National Forest, before returning as a crew captain with the Big Bear Hotshots in 2008.
He participated in Christmas bike drives for Inland children.
Survivors include his wife, Summer. Memorial service arrangements are pending. Cards may be sent to the family in care of the Big Bear Ranger Station, 42300 North Shore Drive Hwy. 38, P.O. Box 290, Fawnskin, CA, 92333.
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