Several people missing after fire, explosion level California fireworks facility

Thomson Reuters

· Posted: Jul 02, 2025 11:30 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

Seven radical were missing aft a occurrence and almighty detonation levelled a commercialized fireworks installation successful agrarian bluish California, authorities said connected Wednesday.

Aerial footage from section quality media showed the large, warehouse-like gathering blown to pieces Tuesday evening successful an enormous, thundering fireball that rocked a wide country astir the Yolo County assemblage of Esparto, astir 64 kilometres westbound of Sacramento, the authorities capital.

The blast, belching retired a pall of thick, achromatic smoke, was followed by dozens of smaller explosions flashing successful the entity implicit the site, seemingly ignited by the inventory of pyrotechnics stored astatine the location.

Flames dispersed from the detonation charred astir 32 hectares of surrounding vegetation, according to Jason Clay, a spokesperson for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Two radical injured successful the archetypal event received aesculapian treatment, and 7 different individuals were missing, Curtis Lawrence, chief of the Esparto Fire Protection District, told reporters astatine a briefing connected Wednesday, astir 24 hours later.

State occurrence marshal investigating

The origin of the incident, which occurred 3 days earlier the July Fourth U.S. Independence Day celebrations that typically impact fireworks displays, was nether probe by the authorities occurrence marshal's office, Lawrence said.

Authorities said firefighters and different exigency effect unit were keeping a harmless region from the tract arsenic teams continued to marque assessments of ongoing risks posed by unrecorded fireworks, which continued to spell disconnected astatine random intervals done Wednesday evening.

Teams were flying drones and craft implicit the country seeking to find the destiny of the missing and to show lingering hazards, according to Lawrence.

Authorities declined to accidental whether the missing were workers from the installation oregon bystanders, but helium said determination were nary casualties among firefighters oregon different exigency personnel.

"I tin accidental I person not seen thing similar this," Lawrence said.

Asked however authorities would cognize erstwhile it was harmless capable to task further into the site, helium said, "It's pugnacious to get a definitive reply of erstwhile that's going to beryllium and what that really looks like."

An evacuation portion was established astir the site, and astir 150 homes and farms were without powerfulness arsenic a effect of the incident, Lawrence said.

He described the demolished installation arsenic a licensed pyrotechnics concern involving commercialized fireworks sold for nationalist display. But it was unclear whether fireworks were simply stored determination oregon besides produced connected site.