CalFire says lots of 'red flags' in deadly Yolo County fireworks explosion

Families and friends of Yolo County explosion victims held vigil as they wait for answers in the investigation

Families and friends of Yolo County explosion victims held a vigil on Friday night. The state fire marshal with Calfire provides update on the status of the investigation.

ESPARTO, Calif. - It's been just over a week since the devastating explosions and fire at the fireworks warehouse in Yolo County.

On Friday, the coroner's office officially released the identities of the seven victims.

They are:  Carolos Rodriguez Mora, a 43-year-old from San Andreas, 41-year-old Neil Li from San Francisco, 18-year-old Angel Voller of Stockton, 45-year-old Christopher Bocog of San Francisco, and two brothers from San Pablo. They are Jesus Ramos and 22-year-old Jhony Ramos.   Their 28-year-old stepbrother Joel Melendez of Sacramento, was also killed.

On Friday night, some of the victims' families and friends gathered for a vigil in Esparto. 

There were  hugs and tears and they honored the victims.

Earlier in the day, the father of three victims said he finds comfort being in Esparto.

"We're still here because we feel like we're close to them," said Jhony Ramos Sr. about his sons.

State Fire Marshal Daniel Berlant with CalFire, the agency leading the investigation,  provided an update on the status of the investigation to KTVU.  

"We've issued search warrants, interviewed witnesses, interested parties, potential suspects, all to help us pull together a case," said Berlant.

He said his agency has now collected all the  evidence from the scene and the investigation will now continue off site.   

Investigators are working to find answers, including the cause of the explosion and where it started.

Berlant said multiple explosions add to the complexity of this case. 

"There are a lot of red flags in this case. It's one of the reasons why we've devoted a significant amount of resources, partnered with entities like the ATF and brought in a large number of bomb technicians and other organizations and other experts to help us through this process," said Berlant.

He said the red flags include whether the company, Devastating Pyrotechnics  had all the necessary licenses and permits.

Berlant said one major red flag is that the company did not have the required local permits for the manufacturing  and storage of fireworks, "Professional use of fireworks is so heavily and properly regulated that explosions are incredibly rare."  

The victims' families are searching for answers that may be a long time in coming. 

But relatives said they find comfort in community support.

"I feel very happy because it's a very good community, but not happy with the system-ok? The system is so bad," said Ramos.  

State fire marshal Berlant declined to say what a search warrant that was executed on Tuesday at the company CEO's San Francisco home turned up.

He said he didn't want to jeopardize the investigation. 

Berlant said there is no timeline for when the investigation will be complete.

It could take months or longer. 

Amber Lee is a reporter with KTVU. Email Amber at Amber.Lee@Fox.com or text/leave a message at 510-599-3922. Follow her on Facebook @AmberKTVU,  Instagram @AmberKTVU  or Twitter @AmberKTVU