Seven people are missing after multiple explosions at a warehouse in Northern California that sent bright fireworks across the area and ignited a brush fire.
The location is owned by an active pyrotechnics license holder, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Emergency crews were searching the property for the missing individuals Wednesday, and investigators were also surveying the area with drones.
Authorities have not identified any of the missing, but relatives said some were working at the warehouse.
News footage showed the explosions were sparked by a fire at the pyrotechnics facility, which is in the rural Yolo County community of Esparto about 40 miles northwest of Sacramento.
Residents in Esparto and some in Madison remained under an evacuation order as of Wednesday afternoon due to the burning pyrotechnic materials.
Although “there is a reduced risk today” of the brush fire spreading to homes, it’s “a risk that still remains,” Cal Fire said in a news release.
Officials are working to determine that everything done at the warehouse was in line with license requirements for a pyrotechnics facility.
“This type of incident is very rare, as facilities like this are required to not only follow our stringent California pyrotechnics requirements, but also federal explosive storage requirements,” Cal Fire said.
On Wednesday, family members of some of the missing waited at a checkpoint for answers as emergency crews continued to search the area.
One of those waiting was Syanna Ruiz, who said her boyfriend, Jesus Ramos, 18, was working at the warehouse on Tuesday when the fire started, according to reporting from the Sacramento Bee. She identified two others who were still missing: Ramos’ brother, Johnny Ramos, and his stepbrother, Junion Menendez.
“They were all three incredible men who had so much … coming their way,” Ruiz told reporters. “I’m just praying to God that some way, somehow, they’re OK, that they’re just unable to communicate with us at the moment.”
The warehouse fire and its explosive aftermath came just days before the Fourth of July holiday. The fire chief of the Esparto Fire Protection District, Curtis Lawrence, said in an update Wednesday that crews who responded to the incident found “commercial buildings well involved and numerous explosions.”
The explosions sent debris across the area that ignited multiple spot fires, according to officials.
A blaze ignited by the explosions, dubbed the Oakdale fire, started about 6 p.m. Tuesday in Esparto, authorities said.
The Yolo County Sheriff’s Office warned residents to avoid the area for several days while it investigates the cause of the blast.
“The fire will take time to cool, and once it does, explosive experts must safely enter the site to assess and secure the area,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.
Video of the warehouse where the explosions occurred showed plumes of thick black smoke emanating from the structure, and helicopter video from KCRA-TV showed a burning warehouse with bright sparks shooting out of the structure, followed by a large explosion.
The fire started in a sparsely populated area in the warehouse and video shared on social media showed at least two noncommercial buildings burning in the blaze.
By Wednesday night, the Oakdale fire was at 78 acres with no containment as it was burning in fire-friendly weather conditions.
San José Mayor Matt Mahan told KCBS 106.9 FM/740 AM that the fireworks for a Fourth of July show planned at San José’s Lake Cunningham were lost in the Yolo County incident.
The show is “unlikely to be able to move forward as a fireworks show,” Mahan told the radio station. A festival will still be held at the site — near the home of CaliBunga Waterpark, formerly known as Raging Waters. Officials are looking at the possibility of putting together a last-minute drone show.
“We’re praying for the folks who are directly affected by this terrible tragedy. It’s just heartbreaking,” Mahan told the radio station.
Fireworks shows are still expected Friday at other area venues, such as Excite Ballpark following a San José Giants minor league baseball game, and at the California’s Great America theme park in Santa Clara.
Above-normal temperatures are expected to linger through Wednesday, bringing moderate heat risks across the region.
The incident is the latest example of how quickly a fireworks mishap can turn from bad to worse.
In 2020, a couple set off a pyrotechnic during a gender-reveal party in San Bernardino County. The special occasion sparked a 22,000-acre fire that killed a U.S. Forest Service wildland firefighter, destroyed five homes and forced hundreds to evacuate.
Times staff writer Rong-Gong Lin II contributed to this report.