Seven people are “unaccounted for” after several explosions at a fireworks warehouse resulted in a fire in Northern California’s Yolo County, officials said.
It happened Tuesday evening in the community of Esparto at Devastating Pyrotechnics. The Yolo County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the building was a fireworks warehouse in the area of county roads 23 and 86A.
Yolo County officials issued mandatory evacuations for a one-mile stretch as a result of the fire. The evacuation area is on the south side of Highway 16, stretching south to County Road 25 and stretching west from Tutt Street to County Road 85B. The small community of Madison was also in the evacuation zone, but residents have since been allowed to return home.
Several structures on the property caught fire after the explosions, with the flames spreading into multiple grass fires with a combined burn area of approximately 80 acres, the Esparto Fire Protection District said in a Tuesday night news conference. The initial explosion happened around 5:50 p.m.
CBS Sacramento spoke to some people who said they had loved ones believed to have been inside the facility at the time of the incident, but they had not been able to contact them. In an update late Wednesday morning, Cal Fire said seven people were not accounted for and that first responders are working to determine their whereabouts.
Syanna Ruiz, 18, said her boyfriend and two brothers-in-law are missing. She said that her boyfriend, Jesus Ramos, 18, had his first day on the job at the facility on Tuesday.
Officials have not confirmed the identities of the seven people unaccounted for.
“We last spoke to them around 2 or 3 when they were supposed to be leaving and then we found out about it through a report or something on Instagram and we came instantly,” Ruiz said. “Praying to God that they’re alive and maybe they just need medical attention.”
Esparto Fire Chief Curtis Lawrence said two people were injured and received medical care. He said no firefighters have been injured.
Law enforcement officials said streets around the evacuation zone and leading into the facility were shut down.
Road closures remain in effect for the following stretches, however: County Road 86A at County Road 25, County Road 86A at State Route 16, County Road 23 at County Road 87B, and County Road 86 at County Road 23.
CBS News San Francisco’s chopper was in the region due to a grass fire in nearby Vacaville. The chopper flew by the Esparto fire and captured images of the flames.
CBS News San Francisco
Cal Fire LNU sent crews into the area to assist with the fire. Cal Fire will be taking the lead in the investigation.
What we know about Devastating Pyrotechnics.
Devastating Pyrotechnics has an active fireworks license as an importer and exporter, according to state records. It also has an active license for public displays.
The Esparto warehouse was cited as a storage facility for commercial fireworks.
Fire officials said they have been to the Esparto warehouse for safety checks in the past, but did not provide information on whether there were any safety concerns or when the last time the business was checked.
Devastating Pyrotechnics released the following statement on its website shortly before 6 p.m. on the matter:
“Our hearts and thoughts are with those we lost, their families, and everyone impacted in our community. We are grateful for the swift response of law enforcement and emergency personnel. Our focus will remain on those directly impacted by this tragedy, and we will cooperate fully with the proper authorities in their investigation.”
Aside from the two injuries reported by law enforcement, there have been no confirmed deaths.
A previous version of the website stated the business has another location in San Francisco and has been serving Northern California for 30 years. The website now only shows the statement released by the business.
The statement also refers all further inquiries to a lawyer. CBS Sacramento reached out to the lawyer for further comment but received the same statement that was posted to the website.
Where are Esparto and Yolo County located in California?
Yolo County borders the west side of Sacramento County. Esparto is a small, rural town located about 14 miles west of the city of Woodland in Yolo County and about 35 miles northwest of the city of Sacramento.
Some residents of the area told CBS Sacramento that windows to their homes were rattled by at least two separate explosions. Some described their house shaking like during an earthquake, with explosions going off seemingly every five minutes.
Nearly 2,200 Pacific Gas and Electric customers in the area were left without power due to the incident. PG&E’s online outage map showed that more than 150 customers were still without power as of Wednesday afternoon.
CBS News San Francisco
CBS Sacramento’s First Alert Weather Team confirmed the smoke plume from the initial explosion reached between 10,000 and 15,000 feet in elevation.
