State fire officials have turned over the findings in the investigation of a deadly explosion at a fireworks storage facility in Esparto last year.
The Office of the State Fire Marshal, a department of Cal Fire, announced yesterday it had completed its investigation into the Oakdale Fire — a 78-acre wildfire sparked by the explosions at the facility located along County Roads 86 and 23 in Yolo County.
Officials said their report included “evidence of illegal activities uncovered in the investigation.” No further information was given as to the nature of these alleged activities, and the report was provided to the Yolo County District Attorney's Office.
“After months of investigation, our Arson and Bomb investigators have compiled a report that reflects the Office of the State Fire Marshal’s commitment to uncovering what happened in Esparto,” State Fire Marshal Chief Daniel Berlant said in a prepared statement.
“This complex investigation took many turns as new information emerged, but the team diligently followed leads and gathered the facts that form the basis of the report.”
A spokesperson for the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office told CapRadio Tuesday it has been informed that Cal Fire is sending its reports. “The investigation and review are ongoing. That’s all we have for now,” they wrote.
Cal Fire says its investigators will remain available to support the DA’s office with its criminal investigation.
The investigation was launched after a series of massive detonations tore apart the storage facility July 1, instantly killing seven workers and injuring two other people.
Two companies operated out of the Esparto warehouse — Devastating Pyrotechnics, owned by Kenneth Chee and Blackstar Fireworks, owned by Craig Cutright.
Cal Fire suspended and later revoked both men’s pyrotechnic licenses in the wake of the disaster, with the Office of the State Fire Marshal saying Chee and Cutright had “violated California’s laws and regulations.”
State officials say these violations included not filing proper importation documents with state officials, not reporting lost fireworks, and possessing fireworks without a local fire permit.
Berlant said last August the revocations marked the conclusion of Cal Fire’s “administrative license investigation,” but said the post-blast investigation was still ongoing.
In December California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) issued 15 citations to Devastating Pyrotechnics and its successors, totaling $221,000 in fines.
Three were related to the explosion itself including the company’s failure to establish an Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP), train employees for an emergency situation, and train workers on fire hazards associated with actions like the storage and handling of pyrotechnic and explosive materials.
Calls for change
The deadly Esparto explosion has sparked calls for reform and action. Democratic State Senator Christopher Cabaldon, who represents Yolo County, has pushed for a legislative fix to close potential loopholes and strengthen oversight.
Cabaldon’s Senate Bill 828 would require anyone who holds or applies for a pyrotechnics license to disclose the full address of the fireworks storage location to local authorities and the State Fire Marshal’s office. Every storage site would also be required to undergo an annual inspection by a local and state fire agency, with businesses risking at least a $10,000 fine and possible license revocation if they do not comply.
SB 828 would also bar any person who committed a violent crime from being licensed. Current state law allows licenses to be denied for people convicted of a felony involving fireworks or explosives.
The bill recently passed through the State Senate 39-0, and is now in the Assembly. Cabaldon said in a release that the owner of Devastating Pyrotechnics would never have held a license under SB 828, and called the devastating explosion a “wholly preventable tragedy.”
“As families in my district continue to grieve, it is our responsibility to make sure our laws protect the people working in and living around these storage sites going forward,” he wrote.
Questions remain
In the months following the explosion, multiple questions continue to swirl.
Chee had previously been denied a license from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives following a criminal conviction in the 1990s. This made him ineligible to receive or possess explosive materials or be issued a federal explosives license or permit.
Cutright is a volunteer member of the Esparto Fire Protection District, and was placed on leave after the explosion. The property where the facility was located was owned by Lt. Sam Machado from the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office and his wife Tammy, who also works for the department. Both were placed on leave shortly after the incident.
Perceptions around potential conflicts of interest led Yolo County supervisors to reach out to the California Department of Justice in July, requesting it to join Cal Fire and Cal/OSHA in leading the investigation.
A DOJ representative declined to intervene on Aug. 8, writing that the Department was confident in Cal Fire’s ability to conduct a thorough, unbiased investigation. The DOJ also said they did not find any conflict within the Yolo County DA’s office that might require a recusal from any potential prosecution.
In August Yolo County also acknowledged that staff members had been aware for years that fireworks were being stored in the Esparto warehouse. Despite this, the building was permitted for agricultural storage which the county says does not allow for the storage and handling of fireworks and explosives.
Building division staff were informed in mid-2022 of potential storage at the property, including both display-grade and “safe and sane” devices reportedly stored in shipping containers around the property. They were also told fireworks were occasionally processed and repackaged “in accordance with ATF regulations.”
Aerial photographs taken February 2022, November 2023 and June 2024 of the Esparto property where the fireworks facility was located. The construction of the new building is seen in the lower right of each image, along with added storage containers.Google EarthA June 2, 2022, county email from Chief Building Official Scott Doolittle also called out the connection between law enforcement, the property and fireworks. In an email to another employee Doolittle mentioned receiving a tip that, “the site is being used to run a pyrotechnics business."
“Sheriff deputies, potentially including deputies we work with, are reported to be involved in the business,” he wrote. The next day, Doolittle wrote that he spoke with Esparto Fire Protection District Chief Curtis Lawrence, who “confirmed that the pyrotechnic business is licensed through the federal ATF.”
Cal Fire under the microscope
Cal Fire and law enforcement agencies across the state have carried out enforcement actions in connection to the explosion. These include the arrest of a Del Norte County man in December, and a search warrant executed in East Los Angeles that also resulted in an arrest. Both cases involved possession of explosives or destructive devices.
But the State Fire Marshal’s office has also come under scrutiny and faced criticism over issues with enforcing California’s fireworks laws, and whether the illegal fireworks stored at the Esparto facility could have been detected sooner.
The Sacramento Bee found that a Cal Fire raid of a fireworks facility in Commerce last May, which seized over 100,000 pounds of illegal pyrotechnics, was based on a search warrant connected to Devastating Pyrotechnics.
Officers from Cal Fire and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) with seized fireworks following a raid in Commerce May 21, 2025. Cal Fire says the raid seized over 100,000 pounds of illegal fireworks.Courtesy of Cal Fire Office of the State Fire Marshal
The newspaper reports the warehouse owner told state officials he was paid by Chee, and additional data showed that Devastating Pyrotechnics brought more shipments of fireworks into the state, totaling more than 300,000 pounds, after the fireworks seizure in Southern California. But Cal Fire never conducted a search of the Esparto facility.
A new Bee investigation released Tuesday also found that weeks before the explosion, Devastating Pyrotechnics tried to get back fireworks seized in the Commerce raid, citing close ties with the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office.
KCRA also reports Cal Fire received a tip from a fireworks consultant in 2023 about Devastating Pyrotechnics importing fireworks following a fireworks raid in San Jose.
The explosion has already sparked civil lawsuits. One was filed by Etta James Farming, a nearby farm, against Cutright, Chee and Machado seeking compensation for losses and damages suffered in the incident.
A $35 million claim was also filed by the families of the explosion’s victims against Yolo County, the State Fire Marshal’s office, the owners of the pyrotechnics companies and multiple individuals.
