Latest news with #TobaccoandFirearms
Miami Herald
04-07-2025
- Miami Herald
Families await answers, firefighters face hazards at CA fireworks blast site
Tears streaked the faces of Jhony Ramos Sr. and Mercedes Lemos soon after arriving Thursday afternoon outside of the evacuation zone perimeter butting against Esparto. About a mile south — at a rural corner lot since flattened by Tuesday's calamitous explosions at a fireworks storage facility — laid the place where their missing sons and grandsons, respectively, were last known to be. 'There is nothing,' Lemos told reporters in Spanish when asked what the family had been told by authorities. 'And why? We are all human. They are indifferent. And how can they be? ... We all eat, we all feel and we all need.' Seven people remain 'unaccounted for' after the blast obliterated the facility along with nearby homes and outbuildings. Meanwhile, a national Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms response team was called to Esparto. The specialized team assembles for major fire and explosives investigations, like the Esparto blaze dubbed the Oakdale Fire, for a nearby road where pyrotechnics were hurled after Tuesday's first blast. The team is made up of ATF special agents, fire investigators and forensic chemists; fire protection and electrical engineers; explosives specialists, intelligence researchers and accelerant-detecting dog teams. National Response Teams have responded to some of the most notable disasters in recent U.S. history, including the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 and the September 11, 2001, terror attack on the World Trade Center. The rapid response team will assist investigators who have been poring over the explosion site since Tuesday night, Cal Fire officials said in a Wednesday evening update as the search for answers into the blast continues now into a third day in still-unstable conditions. Pyrotechnics company issues statement In a statement, officials at Devastating Pyrotechnics, whose facilities were destroyed in the explosion, offered thoughts to the families of those believed lost in the blast and gratitude to first responders who rushed to the scene. 'Our hearts and thoughts are with those we lost, their families, and everyone impacted in our community,' the statement read. 'We are grateful for the swift response of law enforcement and emergency personnel. Our focus will remain on those directly impacted by this tragedy, and we will cooperate fully with the proper authorities in their investigation.' The company's attorney, Douglas Horngrad, offered little else, saying that 'while we understand the public's need for more information about the warehouse facility in Esparto, we cannot provide any further comment at this time.' No other officials from the San Francisco-based company have discussed the incident with The Sacramento Bee or responded to repeated inquiries about the inferno. The pain in this rural community in far western Yolo County, about 30 miles west of Sacramento, has intensified as the names and the stories of the missing remain known. But family members have said that among them are Jesus and Jhonny Ramos Jr., 18 and 22 years old, respectively. Their brother Joel 'Junior' Melendez also remains missing. Ramos Sr., who traveled with family from Los Angeles after learning of the explosions, told reporters Thursday that authorities had not given the family more information about their missing relatives. Syanna Ruiz, the 18-year-old girlfriend of Jesus Ramos, had also spoken out on the lack of information about the missing at the end of a news conference Wednesday. 'They were, all three, incredible men who had so much coming for them, that had so much coming their way,' Ruiz told The Bee on Wednesday. 'I'm just praying to God that some way, somehow, they're okay.' The family was told by authorities they would hear an update by Saturday. Esparto Fire Chief Curtis Lawrence at a Wednesday news conference said crews could not go onto the site due to the dangers that remained. Recovering the bodies of the blast victims was a 'big concern,' Lawrence said when Ruiz asked what fire crews were doing on that front. Melendez is the father of an 11-month-old son. His wife, Maria, is expecting their second child, her cousin, Marilly Kepoo-Galicia, said in a GoFundMe appeal for the family. 'This tragic accident has taken so much from so many, and for Maria, it's shattered her entire world,' Kepoo-Galicia wrote. 'What should be a joyful and hopeful time has instead become filled with fear, uncertainty, and heartbreak.' Recovery effort beginning amid danger Authorities on Thursday said the priority for Esparto and local fire crews was to gain access to the ruined facility so authorities can begin to recover those lost in the disaster and 'bolster investigative efforts for the explosion investigation.' The pyrotechnics explosions at the fireworks warehouse in the 26400 block of County Road 23 near County Road 86A, about a mile south of Highway 16, was said to have ignited numbers of spot fires in the area. Cal Fire said the Oakdale Fire blackened 78 acres before crews halted forward progress Tuesday night. Mathew Davis, a spokesperson for the Yolo County Sheriff's Office, addressed the missing individuals' families at the news conference, acknowledging their concerns but saying personnel cannot move forward with the recovery effort until the scene is safe. 'It's important that we operate safely, carefully and securely and in a dignified manner that respects all involved,' Davis said. 'We cannot move forward and risk any more injury to anyone else on this scene.' Lawrence, the town's fire chief, said firefighters had begun 'targeted fire suppression efforts' to mitigate the risks of recovery and said the area was 'a little bit' safer for responders. The identities of four others who remained missing were unknown and officials at Thursday's news conference refused to answer any questions from reporters or the relatives among the scrum. While Lawrence could not confirm the number of individuals that were forced to evacuate, he said more than 150 PG&E customers were affected by power outages relating to the incident. By Thursday afternoon, 89 customers in the area were without power controlled by a substation on the 18500 block of County Road 89, roughly two miles east of the fire, according to data collected by the Governor's Office of Emergency Services. Yolo County District 5 Supervisor Angel Barajas said on Thursday that the board, along with various agencies, were investigating the incident to see whether proper procedures were followed. Barajas said if protocols were violated, the board would 'revise and modify' them to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future. 'We have trust in our partners and our agencies that the investigation is going to be transparent,' Barajas said at Thursday's press conference. 'We want to make sure that it becomes a quick and a timely investigation, but we're going to leave the subject-matter experts to perform those duties.' Officials offer support for those affected Barajas said the county has provided the families of those unaccounted for with food and hotel vouchers as well as counseling services. 'First and foremost, our priority is the families making sure that they're comfortable during this investigation and this recovery procedure,' Barajas said. For frustrated loved ones of the missing and authorities alike, questions remain. What triggered the blast? Were additional materials beside fireworks stored at the site? Did more than one company store its pyrotechnics there? People near the facility when the explosions took place just about 6 p.m. described a sequence of blasts that rattled buildings and homes in nearby Esparto and was felt by some in Woodland, about 14 miles away. The large blasts, followed by a series of fireworks rattling off from the burning facility, sparked multiple grass fires that firefighters controlled soon after the explosions. 'There are thousands of questions,' Lemos said. 'There are no answers.' Explosions at pyrotechnics facilities are extremely rare, Julie Heckman, executive director of the American Pyrotechnics Association, an industry group, told The Sacramento Bee this week. Human interaction is almost always the culprit, she said, triggering catastrophe. Storage facilities like the doomed Esparto site must be licensed by both state fire authorities and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said Heckman, a member of Cal Fire's fireworks advisory committee, and must be specially built with materials that do not create sparks or static electricity. Fireworks for Friday's Independence Day festivities from Marysville to Placerville and the north Bay Area were stored at the Yolo County facility, the blast forcing organizers to reschedule, postpone or cancel their events.
CBS News
01-07-2025
- CBS News
Alderwoman Emma Mitts says Chicago police know who prime suspect is in deadly West Side fire
Alderwoman Emma Mitts says CPD knows who prime suspect is in deadly West Side fire Alderwoman Emma Mitts says CPD knows who prime suspect is in deadly West Side fire Alderwoman Emma Mitts says CPD knows who prime suspect is in deadly West Side fire Chicago police may be one step closer to finding the person to blame for a fire in the city's Austin neighborhood that killed four people, including a child. Alderwoman Emma Mitts, who represents the 37th Ward, said detectives know who they are looking for an arrest is only a matter of time. A pregnant mother, her 5-year-old son, her younger sister and a well-known journalist were all killed in the fire in the 5200 block of North Avenue in the early hours of last Thursday morning. The fire broke out just before 2 a.m. on June 26. Chicago firefighters used at least eight ladders to bring residents to safety. Some had to escape by stairs or jumping from the building. Police investigated the first as suspicious from the start, with the assistance of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Witnesses said someone threw a Molotov cocktail through the window. Investigators said they believe the fire was started during or after a domestic incident, though they have not said who was involved. The four people who died were identified as 32-year-old Regina Henry, her 5-year-old son Jayceon Henry, and her28-year-old sister Destiny Henry, who went back into the burning building after her 4-year-old who she didn't realize had already been rescued, as well as 76-year-old Brad Cumming, editor of the Austin neighborhood The Voice newspaper.
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Yahoo
Immigrant pleaded not guilty to possessing a gun while being in the U.S. illegally
An immigrant whose arrest by federal authorities briefly sparked panic in the neighborhood near the Mitchell Park Domes entered a plea of not guilty for possession of a gun while being illegally in the United States. A grand jury indicted Heber Tzoy-Tzoy on June 24, the same day he appeared in person for a preliminary hearing in federal court in downtown Milwaukee. Tzoy was initially arrested by Milwaukee Police in September 2024 for driving under the influence and possession of a handgun. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms took the case on in December and arrested Tzoy at his apartment on South 22nd Street on June 10. He has been in the custody of the Kenosha County Sheriff's Department. Magistrate Judge William Duffin did not approve bail for Tzoy at his first federal court hearing on June 11. If convicted, Tzoy faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $25,000 fine. In a somewhat similar case in Illinois, U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Coleman dropped a charge of possession of a firearm while illegally in the U.S., calling it "unconstitutional." Heriberto Carbajal-Flores, an immigrant who was unlawfully in the U.S., possessed a handgun back in 2020. The judge found that the "non-violent circumstances of his arrest" shouldn't deprive him of his Second Amendment right, according to her opinion. Her ruling was appealed and sent to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in December. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Immigrant arrested near Domes in Milwaukee indicted on gun charge
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Yahoo
Man arrested by federal agents charged with 'possession of a firearm while being an illegal alien'
More details came to light in the federal arrest of an undocumented Milwaukee man on a gun charge, whose arrest sparked fears among some of a broader immigration operation on the city's south side. A criminal case was unsealed June 11 against Herber Tzoy-Tzoy, who appeared in federal court the same day for a charge of possessing a gun while being illegally in the United States. Tzoy was initially arrested by Milwaukee Police in September 2024 for driving under the influence and possession of a handgun. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms took the case on in December and arrested Tzoy at his apartment on South 22nd Street on June 10. He is now in custody of the Kenosha County Sheriff. Magistrate Judge William Duffin didn't approve bail for Tzoy at his federal court hearing on June 11. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's previous report regarding Tzoy's arrest named his alias, Mario Torres. Tzoy crashed a Dodge pickup truck into parked cars along West Burnham Street in September. His blood alcohol concentration was more than twice the legal limit, Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene records showed. An officer found a handgun and five empty beer bottles on the driver's side floorboard, the federal criminal report says. According to the charges, a Guatemalan identification card with the name Eliseo Us-Ixcotoyac was found by officers. Tzoy told officers that was his "fake name" for work. Tzoy confirmed his name with his Guatemalan birth certificate at his November municipal court hearing. Department of Homeland Security doesn't have records of Tzoy entering the U.S. legally, federal prosecutors say. An arrest warrant was issued for Tzoy on March 17 after he didn't appear in Milwaukee County Court that day for those charges. Voces De La Frontera and Diego Castro, Tzoy's brother-in-law, say U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement took Tzoy into custody on June 10. Castro, who lives in a neighboring unit, said about 10 or 15 agents with the bottom half of their faces covered pounded on all four units in the apartment building. The agents said they had a warrant for Castro's wife's name, too, he said. The U.S. Marshal's office confirmed about 10 agents were knocking on doors of Tzoy's neighbors as the agency typically does in such cases, said Scott Keller, Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. The agency was only there to assist in the arrest of that man. He said he could not speak for the size of other agencies' response. 'To say that's a large response, that would be false,' Keller said. "It shouldn't be characterized as a heavy response, simply because this is our normal operations.' The agency assisted in multiple arrests across the city on June 10, Keller said. Tzoy's attorney Joshua Uller wouldn't confirm if ICE was involved in Tzoy's arrest. Tzoy's next court date is June 24 at 3:30 p.m. Gina Castro is a Public Investigator reporter. She can be reached at gcastro@ This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Federal agency charges immigrant with possession of a firearm
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
What's Next for Malibu?
What's Next for Malibu? originally appeared on L.A. Mag. Being Malibu city manager, a top public servant in local government, used to be a coveted job, one that pays as much as $270,000 a year working for a city blessed with caressing breezes, breathtaking views and access to some of the best surf breaks in the world. But these days, Malibu is struggling to fill the job. In fact, three civil servants who held the position, either in an official capacity or as an interim manager, have quit in the six months since the Palisades Fire ripped through the Malibu area in early January. The monstrous blaze began in the Santa Monica Mountains, and by the evening of Jan. 7, it was a molten hurricane that tore down the chaparral-covered canyons from the Palisades and hopped the Pacific Coast Highway toward the it was finally defeated, the fire had devoured 340 waterfront homes in Malibu and another 397 structures nestled closer to land. Three Malibu residents were among the dozen killed in the Westside wildfire. All the grief, the anger, the unimaginable loss and unique rebuilding challenges make it hard to retain political talent, city spokesperson Matthew Myerhoff tells Los Angeles.'It's very stressful work,' he says. 'We've been through the biggest disaster in the city's history.' Malibu, which is nestled alongside 21 miles of oceanfront framed by the Santa Monica Mountains, was founded in 1991 and set up to operate as a general law city, one that functions with a council-manager form of government. The five city councilors are elected at-large to serve four-year terms, and the mayor's office is rotated annually among those council members. The Malibu city manager acts as CEO, which makes the role a powerful one. The first city manager to go was Steve McClary, who went on vacation in November and never came back. Whether or not his decision to staycation elsewhere had anything to do with a civil lawsuit claiming a toxic work environment filed against the city by a former Malibu assistant planning director — naming McClary among the defendants — remains was replaced from within by Joseph Toney, who had been working as assistant city manager. He and deputy city manager Alexis Brown were thrust into top leadership roles. But that didn't last long. Brown quit in April, and within weeks Toney also announced his resignation after what he called in a statement, 'much deliberation and reflection.' Six months in, the cause of the Palisades Fire remains undetermined, as a team of federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms continues to comb through the burn zones to figure out what ignited the deadly blaze. Malibu Mayor Marianne Riggins, who was appointed to the position in late April, calls the delay 'disappointing,' adding, 'It would be nice to find out where the source was.' In the meantime, the mayor says, the city is committed to welcoming back tourists and helping its 13,000 residents rebuild. Again. While Riggins, a lifelong Malibu resident, did not lose her home, many of her friends and neighbors did, and not for the first time. Some who saw their residences incinerated this year had rebuilt from the 2018 Woolsey Fire, which started at a property owned by Boeing — the Santa Susana Field Laboratory — and quickly spread to burn across nearly 100,000 acres, destroying homes on both sides of the Pacific Coast Highway. Then came the COVID shutdowns, which ruined many small businesses. It's hard not to feel like the Palisades Fire is part of an endless Sisyphean battle. 'Only, when the rock rolls back down in this place, it's usually on fire,' Malibu resident Joseph Coady tells Los Angeles. 'I just hope businesses can survive another round of this shit.' There are few Angelenos who haven't taken a ride down the PCH, stopping for a sunset cocktail at Moonshadows or picking out a fish for a leisurely waterfront dinner at Reel Inn. Those iconic Malibu spots were among the businesses reduced to ash, along with Cholada Thai, Rosenthal Winery and Caffe Luxxe. Lesser-known are the Malibu businesses forced to shutter even after the fires were extinguished, and the ongoing struggle other small, family-owned establishments are facing to stay alive. One of those business owners, Carter Crary of Malibu Divers, doesn't think the vacuum in City Hall leadership makes a damn bit of difference when it comes to the decimation of the business he co-owns with partner Barbara Gentile. In the long months before Memorial Day, when the PCH was shut down to anyone who didn't have a Pacific Palisades burn zone pass, business had come to a standstill. 'I don't get any more involved in city politics than I have to,' Crary says. 'They are as dysfunctional as other levels of government." During April and May, Crary says, his business was "pretty much dead in the water.' Even with the PCH open, what was once a peaceful and picturesque ride along the water has become a mini hell-scape of military checkpoints and debris removal that shuts off Malibu residents from their homes, even in the unscathed western side of the city. 'The Pacific Coast Highway is our lifeline,' Crary explains, adding that his shop has been a thriving part of the lifeblood of the PCH since 1969. 'Even the people who live here have a hard time getting to the shop.' Things are so bad Gentile set up a GoFundMe page that opens with a tinge of embarrassment. 'I never thought I'd be writing something like this, but life has a way of humbling us. Today, I'm reaching out for help — not just for myself, but for the heart of a community that has thrived through Malibu Divers for over 50 years,' she wrote. 'We've been a home for ocean lovers, adventurers, career development, and marine advocates. For decades, you've learned to dive with us, joined hands during beach clean-ups, or explored the wonders of the underwater world. Many of you are family, not just customers. You've been part of something larger — a community united by a deep passion for the ocean.' Not only has its business, and that of so many others, been financially gutted, there is also the emotional toll of seeing the sand littered with ash and debris, with the waterfront an eerie landscape of spiral metal staircases and brick fireplaces surrounded by rubble. And a toxic algae bloom — which scientists say is unrelated to runoff from the fires — has poisoned dolphins and sea lions who have washed ashore. All of it is psychologically taxing to those whose lives are centered around the ocean. 'It's stressful … heartbreaking,' Crary says. And disruptive, the city concedes. Even rebuilding in Malibu brings its own unique set of challenges in an environmentally sensitive city, making it difficult for people to return home and undergo the process of resurrecting their lives. 'Rebuilding here is tricky,' city spokesperson Myerhoff says. 'It's costly. Permitting is time consuming. Everything is tough.' New state regulations focused on speeding up the rebuilding process are in direct conflict with Malibu's strict zoning code for coastal building. 'There are so many quality-of-life issues,' Myerhoff Riggins believes that Malibu, which has long been the breezy upscale refuge of Hollywood A-listers like Mel Gibson and Paris Hilton, whose homes burned, will bounce back. It always does, she says. The city has set up a headquarters on a lot adjacent to City Hall dedicated solely to the concerns of residents who want to rebuild. It has a website to expedite answers to questions from anyone affected by the fires. Riggins says she has been heartened to see so many of her neighbors step up to help other neighbors. 'Malibu is incredibly resilient. People have lost homes before and come back to rebuild; they choose to rebuild because it's such a special our small little town.' Malibu has made significant progress, Riggins says. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has successfully cleared 221 beachfront properties, she said this week, and roughly 200 other properties in the city have been cleared as well.'We are grateful to the USACE for their hard work and dedication, and to our residents for their continued patience during this process,' said Riggins. 'This milestone represents the strength of our community partnerships and allows us to begin the next phases for rebuilding.' This story was originally reported by L.A. Mag on Jun 5, 2025, where it first appeared.
