A Cal Fire task force set up in the wake of the deadly July 1, 2025 explosion at a fireworks storage facility in Esparto has released its final report.
The Public Safety Fireworks Enforcement Task Force was announced last August, weeks after detonations rocked the Yolo County town, killed seven employees and started a small wildfire.
The group includes law enforcement and fire department personnel, fire investigators and Cal Fire staff. State Fire Marshal Daniel Berlant told CapRadio last year the group would conduct a comprehensive review of California’s fireworks regulations and enforcement efforts.
The task force’s 14-page report was released this week and lists 37 recommendations across multiple categories. Many of the suggested changes include modifying California’s fireworks laws, regulations and applications.
Recommendations
The study group suggested the State Fire Marshal’s office review its licensing process “to ensure that applicants have both an ATF license and a local permit, when required.” It notes that current laws require that state licenses be obtained before an application for a local permit.
Another recommendation calls for the State Fire Marshal’s office to align its licensing process with the ATF’s requirements to “help close gaps between state and federal laws and regulations and ensure stronger oversight in situations where a state license is required but a federal one is not.”
Kenneth Chee, the owner of Devastating Pyrotechnics — one of the two companies operating out of Esparto at the time of the explosion — had been previously denied a license from the ATF due to a 1990s criminal conviction that made him ineligible to receive or possess explosives.
However, Cal Fire said both Devastating Pyrotechnics and Blackstar Fireworks, the second company at the Esparto site, held state licenses. After the explosion, they were suspended and later revoked.
The task force also recommends updating the state’s Health and Safety Code’s felony license disqualifications to align with the California Department of Justice’s Firearms Prohibited Categories, saying it believes “the hazards to the public of dangerous individuals obtaining explosives mirror the dangers of them obtaining firearms.”
Yolo County previously said it did not issue any permits, licenses or approvals for the pyrotechnic companies to operate from the Esparto site. They noted the land is zoned agricultural, “which does not allow for the storage or handling of fireworks or explosives.”
County ordinances have also banned fireworks businesses anywhere in the county since 2001.
Other recommended changes include giving local law enforcement agencies authority to assist in inspections, collecting the locations of fireworks storage locations, and conducting joint inspections with federal and local agencies at least once a year at all locations.
More suggested changes centered on strengthening fireworks enforcement. The report suggests creating a dedicated enforcement task force, funded by the State Fire Marshal’s office, to combat the sale and use of illegal fireworks throughout California.
It also suggests Cal Fire officials work more closely with local district attorneys to improve enforcement and encourage prosecutors to pursue charges when violations are found. Task force members also recommend increasing penalties for the sale or use of illegal fireworks.
The Yolo County District Attorney’s office is currently reviewing the findings of a Cal Fire investigation into the cause of the explosion, which was turned over last month.
These proposals offer both immediate improvements and long-term strategies to create a more resilient and accountable regulatory system,” the task force concluded, adding that “collaboration among regulators, local fire and law enforcement agencies, licensed fireworks companies, and communities is essential.
“By implementing these recommendations, California can reduce the risks associated with fireworks, protect first responders and the public, and prevent future tragedies.”
Read the full Cal Fire task force report here:
Cal Fire spokesperson Samira Barakat told CapRadio the department has already been reviewing the task force’s recommendations, “and has already incorporated them into renewal requirements for companies that have fireworks storage.”
Barakat added that Cal Fire has also improved communication with its licensees, “and reminded them of their statutory and regulatory requirements to safely and legally operate a fireworks business in California.”
Grand jury report
Cal Fire’s report was published the same week a Yolo County civil grand jury released its own findings about the Esparto disaster. The 32-page report titled “Officials Knew, None Acted,” laid out multiple systemic failures where county officials, staff and agencies might have prevented the deadly explosion.
Grand jurors also said county supervisors had encouraged a “laissez-faire attitude” toward new construction and businesses in unincorporated areas, and failed to provide enough resources for enforcing building and safety codes.
The group identified nearly a dozen Yolo County employees, particularly within the planning and building code enforcement divisions, who knew for years that a fireworks business was being operated in Esparto but did not take action.
The report highlighted multiple possible contributing factors including an understaffed code enforcement division, and a belief that state and federal officials were monitoring the pyrotechnic businesses — despite nobody checking with those agencies.
The report also noted code enforcement relied on the Yolo County Sheriff’s office to access properties for inspections, and suggested a potential reluctance to “antagonize some sheriff’s officials by initiating an enforcement action on property owned by sheriff’s department employees.
The Esparto property is owned by Sheriff’s Office Lt. Sam Machado and his wife Tammy Machado, also a department employee. They were both placed on leave following the explosion.
The report also determined the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office failed to enforce fireworks ordinances, and did not “adequately review the documented outside employment by sworn officers.”
The grand jury report was based on hundreds of pages of documents, and more than 30 interviews with over 40 hours of testimony. It includes 16 recommendations ranging from the establishment of a Yolo County Fire Warden position, to improved staffing and training.
Cal Fire did not comment on the findings or details outlined by the grand jury to CapRadio.
The Yolo County Board of Supervisors said Thursday it “respectfully disagrees” with the suggestion the county did not take code enforcement seriously, and that supervisors will continue to fund these programs.
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