Firefighter Dies in Motorcycle Crash

An off-duty Pasadena firefighter was killed when he lost control of his motorcycle in a weekend accident in Tarzana as two of his co-workers looked on, officials said.

James Brown died at the scene about 8 p.m. Sunday, a Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman said.

Brown, an 11-year veteran assigned to a fire station in northwest Pasadena, was riding with two firefighters, both paramedics, Assistant Chief Calvin Wells said. He died despite their efforts to revive him with CPR, Wells said.

“James was very popular among the rank and file,” Wells said. “Like all of us, he was involved in all of our major fires, like the 1993 firestorms. It’s a hard pill to swallow either way, for the firefighters and the community.”