From a famous DJ to martial artists: Tributes pour in after worker at Costco gas station dies
By Cecil Hannibal
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SACRAMENTO, California (KCRA) — Ashkan Moghaddam has been identified as the worker who died after collapsing in a gas tank at a North Sacramento Costco gas station on Monday.
He was known as “Ash” by the Bay Area martial arts community, where he became a double black belt in Jiu-Jitsu and Judo.
The 37-year-old was also a husband and father to two teenage girls.
“He was a very genuine person, and the kind of guy who, if you ever need him, he would be there,” said Calder Powers, the executive director of Guardian Gym.
“He carried a selflessness that was rare — he could change the entire energy of a room just by being in it,” said Nwabueze Umeh, a former training partner.
Back in 2010, Ash began training in Jiu-Jitsu at Ralph Gracie Berkeley under Eduardo Fraga.
“I didn’t even have a chance to say goodbye,” said Fraga about his former student turned lifelong friend.
His former teammates and peers describe him as a man who’d go above and beyond for his friends and family.
Moghaddam even helped create a GoFundMe page for Fraga to help raise money during his naturalization process.
A few months ago, Fraga says he finally became a United States citizen. He says this is just one example of the type of friend he was.
“We’re all martial artists, but at the end of the day, we’re fathers, we’re role models, and he was working really hard,” said Newton Casemiro, his former Judo instructor.
According to his LinkedIn, Moghaddam was an emergency response supervisor with Ponder Environmental Services based out of Benicia.
KCRA 3 contacted the company Monday and Tuesday, but the company declined to comment.
The crew was working to clean the Costco gas tank underneath the gas station on Exposition Boulevard when he collapsed in the tank. First responders attempted to rescue him, but he did not survive.
As of Tuesday, the Sacramento County Coroner has yet to release the exact cause of his death, but fire crews suspected the incident was caused by the toxic fumes and a lack of respiratory equipment.
Cal-OSHA is now leading the investigation into whether any protocols or proper procedures were not followed.
The agency tells KCRA it can take up to six months to fully investigate before any citations are issued.
As his family and friends wait for answers, tributes continue to pour in.
Nile Hollowell-Dhar, a DJ and musician known as KSHMR, and who’s performed at major music festivals such as Coachella and EDC, posted a photo of the two as children writing in part “Rest in Peace to my brother Ash. what you made this life; nobody could have done…He was the underdog story, he was the fighter, he was the leader…I love you brother Long Live Ashkan.”
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