The go well with alleges negligence on the a part of state and native officers earlier than the deaths of seven folks, together with some with Bay Space ties.
Firefighters helping Yolo County on the scene of a business fireplace that unfold into close by vegetation on Freeway 16 and Oakdale Ranch Lane, in Esparto, California, on July 1, 2025. The go well with alleges negligence on the a part of state and native officers earlier than the deaths of seven folks, together with some with Bay Space ties. (Courtesy of Cal Hearth LNU)
The households of those that died in an explosion at a Yolo County fireworks warehouse over a 12 months in the past are suing state and native officers for alleged negligence related to their actions main as much as the blast.
“Your entire incident was preventable and may have been prevented,” the lawsuit reads.
On July 1, 2025, seven staff had been killed in an explosion at an Esparto fireworks warehouse on property owned by Samuel Machado, a former sheriff’s lieutenant within the county, and his spouse, Tammy, who was additionally an worker of the company. Devastating Pyrotechnics and Blackstar Fireworks saved the fireworks on the Machado property.
The explosion resulted in an nearly 80 acre fireplace. 5 folks, together with the Machado couple, had been charged with homicide by the Yolo County District Lawyer’s Workplace this 12 months for the deaths.
5 of these killed had Bay Space ties — San Francisco residents Neil Justin Li and Christopher Goltiao Bocog, Berkeley native Joel Jeremias Melendez, and brothers Jesus Manaces Ramos and Jhony Ernesto Ramos of San Pablo.
The lawsuit, filed within the Superior Court docket for the County of San Francisco this week, claims that the Workplace of the State Hearth Marshal, the Esparto Hearth Safety District and the Yolo County Sheriff’s Workplace didn’t comply with state and native legal guidelines, and firms Devastating Pyrotechnics and Blackstar Fireworks misrepresented their operations as authorized and secure. The lawsuit additionally names the State of California, the County of Yolo and different people as defendants.
A Yolo County Civil Grand Jury report discovered that the warehouse was working illegally and that some native fireplace officers had been conscious of this — allegations which county supervisors denied final month. Regardless of firework companies being banned in unincorporated components of Yolo for over 20 years, the Grand Jury discovered that no code enforcement of the property had taken place.
As a substitute ATF accepted a license that had been transferred to Gary Chan, Jr. by Jack Lee, each additionally named within the lawsuit, to function Devastating Pyrotechnics.
Chee, by the corporate, then obtained licenses from the state to promote fireworks and launch shows, however didn’t acquire a federal license, in response to reporting by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Attorneys allege that Daniel Berlant with the Workplace of the State Hearth Marshal was conscious of Chee’s fireworks operations when the company seized over 100,000 kilos of fireworks from a warehouse in Commerce in Could 2025. “A lot of the fireworks” belonged to Devastating Pyrotechnics, in response to the lawsuit.
“Berlant knew, as of the Commerce raid, that the Devastating license was utilizing the Esparto tackle,” the lawsuit says. “Berlant didn’t conduct any inquiry regardless of this data.”
A spokesperson for Cal Hearth, the father or mother company of the Workplace of the State Hearth Marshal, mentioned it doesn’t touch upon pending litigation. The Esparto Hearth Safety District and the Yolo County Sheriff’s Workplace additionally didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
