Families of Fireworks Warehouse Blast Victims Sue California, County Over Preventable Deaths

SAN FRANCISCO — Families of six workers killed in a catastrophic fireworks warehouse explosion in rural Yolo County have sued the state of California, the county, and more than two dozen other defendants, alleging officials knew for years about an illegal fireworks operation and repeatedly failed to shut it down.

The 99-page civil complaint, filed July 23 in San Francisco Superior Court, stems from a July 1, 2025 explosion at a property in Esparto that killed seven workers and injured at least two others, while sparking a fire that burned roughly 80 acres. The blast occurred at a warehouse where Devastating Pyrotechnics and a second company, Blackstar Fireworks, stored, assembled and repackaged fireworks and explosives on land owned by Samuel Machado, a former Yolo County sheriff's lieutenant, and his wife, Tammy.

The lawsuit names the California Office of the State Fire Marshal and State Fire Marshal Daniel Berlant, Yolo County and several of its employees, the Yolo County Sheriff's Office and Sheriff Tom Lopez, and the Esparto Fire Protection District and its fire chief, along with the two fireworks companies and all eight people already facing criminal charges over the explosion, including the Machados. According to the complaint, state investigators learned as early as a May 2025 raid on a separate Devastating Pyrotechnics warehouse that the company was operating out of the Esparto address, but the state fire marshal's office never inspected the property or referred it for enforcement before the explosion two months later. The suit alleges county and local officials had similar knowledge dating back to 2022 and failed to act, with plaintiffs alleging the inaction stemmed from personal relationships between the defendants rather than legitimate oversight.

Plaintiffs' attorneys said in a statement that many of the men killed were minority workers employed for cash and given none of the safety protections state law requires. The complaint states plainly that the explosion was preventable.

California's workplace safety regulator fined Devastating Pyrotechnics and its successor companies $221,000 across 15 citations in December, though the complaint notes plaintiffs still haven't obtained a complete Cal/OSHA report on the incident. The lawsuit does not include the family of Neil Li, one of the seven victims, who did not join the suit.

The case is [Plaintiffs] v. State of California, et al., San Francisco Superior Court. Sources: https://courthousenews.com/the-entire-incident-was-preventable-victims-families-sue-over-deadly-esparto-fireworks-explosion/, https://www.kqed.org/news/12092664/in-new-lawsuit-families-say-state-local-officials-could-have-prevented-fatal-esparto-fireworks-warehouse-explosion, https://firelawblog.com/2026/07/26/families-of-six-killed-in-california-fireworks-explosion-sue-fire-district-fire-chief-and-state-fire-marshal/