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Several massive explosions at a fireworks facility started in a fire that has many local residents being evacuated in Northern California’s Yolo County. The explosions and resulting fires began in the city of Esparto Tuesday night and spread across dozens of acres of land.
According to KCRA News in Sacramento, their news helicopter was in the area and witnessed “a number of fireworks could be seen going off amid the flames.” They reported that several explosions appeared to “engulf” some of the buildings and structures, while also sparking additional spot fires. One of those spot fires spread across more than 78 acres of nearby vegetation before being contained by Cal Fire.
Cal Fire initially responded to the scene at around 6 p.m. local time. By 9 p.m., Esparto Fire Protection District Chief Curtis Lawrence reported that his fire crews would be maintaining a safe perimeter throughout the night to put out spot fires created by exploding fireworks that are set off by the flames.
CBS Sacramento reports that Yolo County officials issued mandatory evacuations for an area near the burning fireworks facility. Yolo County is around 35 miles northwest of the city of Sacramento. The smoke plume from the fires at one point reached between 10,000 and 15,000 feet, according to CBS Sacramento’s First Alert Weather Team.
Nearly 2,200 residents in the area were left without power due to the incident. Some locals reported windows to their homes rattling due to at least two separate explosions. “All we felt was everything shake,” Esparto resident Bryan Sandoval told the Sacramento Bee.
According to Esparto Fire Protection District, the fireworks facility fires are still burning as of Wednesday morning. The cause of the explosions and subsequent fires have not been determined yet, nor has there been any report of injuries or fatalities.
“We do believe this location is owned by an active pyrotechnic license holder, and as part of our investigation, we will be working to determine that everything happening at the facility was within our license requirements,” California Deputy Fire Marshal Kathy Garrett told ABC 10 News. “This type of incident is very rare, as facilities like this are required to not only follow our stringent California pyrotechnic requirements, but also federal explosive storage requirements.”
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