Search Begins for 7 Missing After Disaster at Fireworks Warehouse in California
Families of the missing have been on edge ever since the warehouse combusted on Tuesday evening in a largely rural area about 30 miles northwest of Sacramento. The fireworks company, Devastating Pyrotechnics, indicated in a statement that multiple people had died, but local officials have not issued a determination.
Search crews, including a team with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, have only just begun to enter the site in Esparto, Calif., because it was deemed hazardous through Wednesday night, with fires burning and explosions still occurring, officials said. The cause is still under investigation.
The warehouse contained large pyrotechnics used in aerial displays in Northern California, including for shows that were scheduled for the Fourth of July on Friday. Several cities canceled their fireworks displays after the incident.
As of Thursday afternoon, some spot fires had been extinguished and the scene had 'become a little bit safer' for crews to start conducting their work, said Chief Curtis Lawrence of the Esparto Fire Protection District. But officials said it was still too soon to determine what happened to the seven missing people. Officials have not specified whether all seven worked at the facility.
Officials 'are doing everything they can to bring you the answers and the closure that you're looking for,' Matthew Davis, the undersheriff of Yolo County, said as he directed his remarks to the loved ones of the victims at a news conference on Thursday. 'We understand this is an incredibly difficult time.'
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