Seven people still remain unaccounted for following an explosion at a pyrotechnics storage facility in the small town of Esparto in Yolo County Tuesday evening that prompted evacuations of the surrounding area and power outages.
The explosion occurred on July 1 at approximately 5:50 pm near country roads 23 and 86A with emergency crews dispatched to the scene within two minutes, according to the Esparto Fire Protection District.
“We arrived on scene to find a commercial building well involved with numerous explosions and several spot fires in the area spread out throughout,” Esparto Fire Chief Curtis Lawrence said at a media briefing on Wednesday.
Two people were injured during the initial event. Both were brought to the hospital and are expected to be “okay.” No firefighter injuries were reported.
Multiple agencies helped create an exclusion zone due to flying debris and fires, and crews monitored the scene from a safe distance to look for survivors with a drone.
“We obviously do our best to train for every type of incident, but an incident like this is a once in a career type of incident,” Lawrence said. “In reality there's nothing that we could have [done to have] gotten closer to it. The risk is just too high at a facility like this.”
The nearby community of Madison was briefly under evacuation orders as well, including the Madison Migrant Center a few miles away.
“Staff were able to get the residents safely out of the center and met our executive director at the evacuation center in Woodland,” the Yolo County Housing agency said in a Facebook post. “The order was lifted, and residents were able to return at approximately 9:30 p.m. All residents are safe."
The resulting Oakdale Fire burned 78 acres and as of Thursday morning was at 60 percent containment. Only one zone is still under evacuation orders: MAD-063-A.
Fire officials offered little details about the cause of the explosion due to it being an ongoing investigation, but confirmed the property owner did have “an active pyrotechnic license” to house commercial fireworks.
Devastating Pyrotechnics LLC, a San Francisco based company linked to the property and a vendor to several commercial fireworks displays, released a statement about the incident:
“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.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Press Office X account said it would be “tracking the fire and explosion” and have sent an arson and bomb investigation team from the Office of the State Fire Marshal.
Cal Fire said in a statement these types of incidents are rare, as facilities are required to follow “stringent” state and federal explosive storage regulations. No information regarding the building’s recent inspections was offered by Cal Fire or the Esparto Fire Protection District, though the investigation will reveal whether or not the facility was following licensing requirements.
Fire Chief Lawrence didn't confirm any of the identities of those missing or the two individuals who were injured in the explosion. However, family members attended the media briefing to voice their concerns about the incident and the subsequent investigation.
Lawrence was interrupted by 18-year-old Syanna Ruiz who expressed frustration at the lack of action and information from fire officials
“[We] have yet to see any efforts and have yet to see anybody go to try and find anybody at all who was stuck in the warehouse who had to try to escape,” Ruiz said. “We're all sick to our stomach and we're all waiting on the information that we shouldn’t receive until Saturday when I want to know today.”
18-year-old Syanna Ruiz questions Cal Fire Public Information Officer Jason Clay about her missing boyfriend, Jesus Ramos. July 2nd, 2025Chris Felts/CapRadio
Ruiz, who is pregnant, said her boyfriend, Jesus Ramos, was working his first day at the facility along with her two brothers-in-law. She said all of them are still missing. Ruiz accused fire crews of being too cautious and said they weren’t prioritizing finding their loved ones.
“How is it that you guys are focusing on moving the people back into the area, but you guys aren't focusing on people that are stuck in the warehouse, possibly dead?” Ruiz said. “As well as us family members who are worried sick and you guys [have] yet to give us any information or try finding any of them at all around the areas who [could have] escaped.”
Lawrence extended his sympathy for their emotions but reiterated that he couldn’t give any definitive answers.
The incident has forced several communities in Northern California to cancel or reschedule their fireworks shows as much of their supply was being stored in the facility.
Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico said they were excited to host the annual “Fast Cars and Freedom Event” on July 4th, but would now be issuing full refunds after their fireworks were destroyed in the blast.
“We extend our condolences to those affected by this explosion and the families of the seven people still missing,” the statement said. “With the sudden knowledge of no fireworks, SLC Promotions felt the necessary thing to do was cancel the entire event, including the auto races.”
The El Dorado County Fair and Event Center also canceled their annual “Family Blast” event.
"As many of you are aware, a warehouse in Esparto exploded yesterday evening, destroying all of the fireworks owned by Devastating PyroTechnics, who is our fireworks vendor,” the statement said. “Our thoughts and prayers extend to Devastating Fireworks over this unimaginable loss of life and their business.”
Sutter County and the City of Marysville released a joint statement saying their firework show at Beckwourth Riverfront Park has been rescheduled to July 5th with their new firework provider, Pyro Spectaculars.
Cal Fire says an assessment of hazards in the area is ongoing with the goal of returning residents back to their homes.
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