A fire and powerful explosion devastated a commercial fireworks facility in rural northern California on Tuesday. Seven people had been missing since the incident.
Aerial footage from local news media showed that the large warehouse-like building was blown to pieces in an enormous fireball that affected a wide area around the Yolo County community of Esparto.
The blast, belching out a pall of thick black smoke, was followed by dozens of smaller explosions flashing in the sky over the site, apparently ignited by the inventory of fireworks stored at the location.
Flames spread from the explosion and charred about 78 acres of surrounding vegetation, according to Jason Clay, a spokesperson for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Two people injured in the initial event received medical treatment, and seven other individuals were missing, Curtis Lawrence, fire chief for the Esparto Fire Protection District, told reporters at a briefing on Wednesday, about 24 hours later.
U.S. Independence Day celebrations are on July 4, a celebration marked by fireworks displays. The occurrence and cause of the incident just three days before Independence Day is under investigation by the state fire marshal's office, Lawrence said.
Authorities said firefighters and other emergency response personnel were keeping a safe distance from the site. Live fireworks continued through Wednesday. Teams of firefighters continued to make assessments of ongoing risks. "I can say I have not seen anything like this," Lawrence added.
Teams were flying drones and aircraft over the area seeking to determine the fate of the missing and to monitor lingering hazards, Lawrence said.
Authorities declined to say whether the missing were workers from the facility or bystanders, but he said there were no casualties among firefighters or other emergency personnel.
Asked how authorities would know when it was safe enough to venture further into the site, he said, "It’s tough to get a definitive answer of when that’s going to be and what that actually looks like," as reported by Reuters.
An evacuation zone was established around the site, and about 150 homes and farms were without power as a result of the incident.
He described the demolished facility as a licensed pyrotechnics business involving commercial fireworks sold for public display. But it was unclear whether fireworks were merely stored there or also produced on site.
