Fireworks warehouse Yolo County not zoned to store fireworks, investigation reveals
Fireworks warehouse in Esparto not zoned to store fireworks, investigation reveals
Fireworks warehouse in Esparto not zoned to store fireworks, a KCRA3 investigation reveals
ESPARTO, Calif. - The property where the fireworks warehouse explosion occurred this week in Yolo County was zoned for agriculture and not for fireworks storage, according to an investigation by Sacramento TV station, KCRA3.
The investigation found there's no record of the property on County Road 23 in Esparto, a small city 40 miles from Sacramento, having any conditional use permits required to hold fireworks.
The Planning Commission told KCRA3 that no such conditional use permit for fireworks exists for the building that Devastating Pyrotechnics sits on.
Explosives expert Richard Meier explained that certain signage should also mark the warehouse where explosives and fireworks are stored.
"There is placarding that's required," Meier told KCRA. "You know, you have to post signs saying that these are explosive materials and keep away a certain distance and keep fire away a certain distance."
Mother cries out names of missing sons in Yolo County fireworks explosion
As fireworks crackled in the night sky and flames flickered from a warehouse explosion in Yolo County, a mother cried out the names of her missing sons.
It's unclear if those protocols were followed at this facility.
An explosion struck the warehouse on Tuesday at 6 p.m. for reasons that authorities have not yet figured out.
Aerial photographs from KCRA3's helicopter show the moments the fireworks went off, sending orange balls high into the sky, as well as the aftermath of the burned-out, one-story yellow building set among green fields.
In the days afterward, the grass around the building was charred, and the scene was so active that firefighters still hadn't entered the building as of Thursday morning.
As of Friday morning, seven people are still unaccounted for, including three brothers from one family.