Officials in Northern California have arrested eight people, including a former local police officer, in connection with an explosion at a fireworks warehouse last July that killed seven people. Five of those arrested have been charged with murder.
The blast, in Esparto, Calif., about 30 miles northwest of Sacramento, sparked a wildfire, prompted evacuations and caused several cities and towns to cancel or postpone Fourth of July fireworks shows.
Up to a million pounds of explosives were being stored near a residence on the site at the time of the explosion, said Jeff Reisig, the Yolo County district attorney, who announced the arrests along with indictments at a news conference on Friday.
Mr. Reisig said the arrests were related to a long-running scheme to conduct a “massive and illegal” operation to import and sell fireworks.
That enterprise, he added, included the usage of property of a former lieutenant of the county sheriff’s office, Sam Machado, 45, and his wife, Tammy Machado, 46, who worked for the office as an administrative employee. Both resigned last month and were among those arrested.
The others arrested were Kenneth Chee, 48, owner of Devastating Pyrotechnics, which officials said stored fireworks at the site; Gary Chan, 43; Jack Lee, 65; Craig Cutright, 61; Ronald Botelho III, 30; and Douglas Tollefsen, 55.
Mr. Machado, Mr. Chee, Mr. Chan, Mr. Lee and Mr. Tollefsen were each charged with seven counts of second-degree murder, one for each person killed in the blast, officials said. Mr. Botelho was arrested in December.
Among other charges, Ms. Machado, who was indicted separately, was charged with mortgage fraud, and Mr. Botelho and Mr. Cutright were charged with conspiring to possess explosives.
Initial attempts to reach those accused were unsuccessful.
The U.S. Marshals Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and local law enforcement officials across California and elsewhere in the country took part in the arrests that followed a grand jury indictment last week, Mr. Reisig said.
He added that the authorities were continuing to investigate other people who may have been connected to the operation.
The catastrophe began on July 1, 2025, when a fire erupted at a warehouse where the fireworks were stored. The chain of explosions it set off — accompanied by bursts of pyrotechnics — reduced the warehouse to a huge debris field and caused a wildfire that burned roughly 80 acres. Officials announced a one-mile evacuation zone and urged people to stay away from the area for several days.
The victims identified by the Yolo County Coroner’s Office included three brothers who worked at the facility. Two other people were injured.
Several cities and counties in California, including San Jose, lost pyrotechnics they had planned to use in their holiday fireworks shows, and opted to cancel or postpone the events.
At the news conference, Clara Nabity, deputy district attorney for Yolo County, said the initial blast occurred on the eastern side of Sam and Tammy Machado’s property, where the Devastating Pyrotechnics operations were concentrated. Ms. Nabity said that evidence suggested that the initial blast had caused the deaths of the seven people killed at the site.
Chris Hippensteel is a reporter covering breaking news and a member of the 2025-26 Times Fellowship class, a program for journalists early in their careers.
The post Eight Arrested in Connection With Deadly California Fireworks Explosion appeared first on New York Times.
