A massive explosion tore through a fireworks warehouse in Yolo County, California on Tuesday evening, triggering widespread fires and forcing mandatory evacuations across a rural section of the state’s agricultural heartland.
BREAKING: Fireworks warehouse explodes in Yolo County, California, destroying 2 homes pic.twitter.com/kRlVDvu8YV
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The blast occurred around 5:50 PM local time in the small town of Esparto, situated roughly 35 miles northwest of Sacramento. According to the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office, the explosion originated at a commercial fireworks storage facility located near the intersection of County Roads 23 and 86A.
Footage captured by remote mountain cameras and broadcast helicopters showed an enormous fireball engulfing multiple buildings, followed by waves of secondary blasts as stored pyrotechnics detonated in rapid succession. A towering column of smoke rose as high as 15,000 feet into the sky, visible across much of the Central Valley.
The Esparto Fire Protection District reported that several structures on the facility’s grounds were immediately consumed by the flames. The resulting inferno spread quickly into adjacent vegetation, igniting multiple grass fires that combined into a burn area covering approximately 80 acres by nightfall.
BREAKING: Massive explosion at fireworks factory in Yolo County, California. pic.twitter.com/g8osVbwkVw
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Firefighters from Cal Fire LNU and multiple regional agencies were dispatched to the scene as law enforcement began locking down roads surrounding the site. The Yolo County Office of Emergency Services issued a mandatory evacuation order for residents and businesses within a one-mile radius, including the entire community of Madison, a small town just south of Highway 16.
Yolo County California Fireworks factory Explodes pic.twitter.com/JHraDH6sO9
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Evacuation orders stretched from Interstate 505 westward to County Road 85B, and from the highway south to County Road 23. Access to surrounding routes was shut off as emergency responders attempted to prevent the fire from reaching nearby fuel storage facilities and wildland areas filled with dense, fire-prone chaparral vegetation.
CBS Sacramento’s aerial footage, captured by a chopper originally dispatched to a grass fire in nearby Vacaville, revealed the scale of the destruction. The site, formerly a commercial fireworks depot, appeared completely gutted by flame. Adjacent structures were visibly crumpled or flattened, with scorched debris scattered across the property.
Local residents reported hearing a series of thunderous booms that shook buildings miles away. Some described the explosions as “like artillery” or “rolling earthquakes.” Dozens gathered outside the evacuation perimeter, expressing concern for workers who may have been inside the facility at the time.
