Sources: Seven presumed dead in "unsurvivable" Esparto fireworks warehouse explosion
Law enforcement officials and fire investigators have made a preliminary determination that no one survived a massive explosion and subsequent fire at a warehouse in Yolo County on Tuesday.
Officially, seven people who were believed to be at or near the scene of the explosion have been designated as “missing” by law enforcement investigators, according to information released by the state’s firefighting agency CAL FIRE and the Yolo County Sheriff’s Department.
None of the seven missing people have been officially identified by law enforcement or fire investigators by name. But police and fire investigators have collected cell phone records, aerial photographs and other evidence that has led them to the conclusion that there are no survivors, according to two sources who spoke with Solano NewsNet on Wednesday.
Police have collected cell phone records from at devices associated with at least two individuals, a Yolo County law enforcement source said. The records include geolocation data that “pinged” to the location of the warehouse in the minutes leading up to the explosion, the source said.
Other evidence includes photographs collected from unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, that revealed charred human remains, some of which were “beyond recognition” and which will need to be conclusively identified through DNA analysis, according to a senior-rank firefighter, and a few body parts were discovered hundreds of feet from the blast zone.
“The explosion was unsurvivable,” the firefighter, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said during a phone interview on Wednesday. “We have a good idea of what we’re going to find when we are able to go into the scene, because we can see it from the drone photos, and it is going to be very grim.”
The law enforcement and firefighting sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release information to the news media. Earlier, the San Francisco Chronicle reported one confirmed fatality based on information provided by an unnamed police source.
Officials with CAL FIRE and the Yolo County Sheriff’s Department did not return a request for comment and additional information.
At least two people were injured by the initial explosion, according to Esparto Fire Protection District Chief Curtis Lawrence, who did not describe the extent of the injuries. A source later confirmed the victims were nearby residents who were injured after the initial blast, and that their wounds were minor in nature.
The Office of the State Fire Marshal, which is part of CAL FIRE, has arson and bomb investigators to the scene of the blast, but they have not been able to collect evidence because of safety concerns. Police and fire investigators do not believe terrorism or crime to be factors in the explosion, but have not eliminated them from possible causes.
The initial explosion occurred around 5:50 p.m. Tuesday along County Road 23 and County Road 86A. The blast was powerful enough to cause damage to homes within a one-mile radius, and a Solano NewsNet photographer captured images of bent utility poles and street signs near the scene of the fire.
The explosion caused a number of spot fires in the area. Nearly 80 acres were charred, according to preliminary estimates from CAL FIRE. More than 2,000 residents and businesses suffered from a prolonged electrical outage that lasted through Tuesday evening, according to information from PG&E.
An evacuation order remains in place for Madison Zones 063-A and 149-B in Yolo County, according to its Office of Emergency Services. An evacuation center for displaced residents has been established at the Esparto Branch of the Yolo County Library.
The warehouse is connected to a San Francisco Bay Area company called Devastating Pyrotechnics, which produces fireworks shows for numerous cities throughout California. Fire investigators are examining records related to the company’s operations, including its license, safety requirements and safety reports.
A number of cities that contracted with Devastating Pyrotechnics for their shows have reduced or canceled their events. Canceled events include the Lodi Lake fireworks show, the Chico fireworks show at Silver Dollar Speedway, the St. Helena Fourth of July fireworks show and the El Dorado County Fair fireworks show.
In San Jose, city officials said their fireworks show will proceed as scheduled, though they acknowledged losing some of their fireworks in the explosion. A fireworks event scheduled for Friday in Marysville has been rescheduled to Saturday in order to accommodate a new vendor’s schedule.