Five people charged with murder in deadly Northern California fireworks warehouse explosion

Five people have been charged with murder in a deadly Northern California explosion at an illegal fireworks warehouse that killed seven people and shook a tiny farming community, authorities said Friday.

The charges stem from a grand jury indictment related to the July 1 explosion that injured two others, Yolo County Deputy District Attorney Clara Nabity said. One of the people charged with murder is Samuel Machado, who was a Yolo County Sheriff's Department lieutenant at the time of the explosion. He illegally stored more than 1 million pounds (453,000 kilograms) of fireworks at his property and used his position at the sheriff's office to evade scrutiny as the operation grew, she said.

The explosion near the community of Esparto, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Sacramento, sparked a massive fire and led to nearby Fourth of July celebrations being called off.

"Samuel Machado’s participation included using his role as a trusted lieutenant to help shield the conspiracy as it expanded, and the expansion was significant," Nabity said, adding that the warehouse went from having 13 fireworks storage containers in 2015 to 50 last year.

It was not immediately clear if Machado has an attorney who can speak on his behalf. A telephone number listed for him went answered Friday.

Machado's sprawling 5,000-square-foot (465-square-meters) warehouse property was used to store and sell fireworks by other men indicted in the case.

Nabity said a total of eight people face 30 charges in the case, including murder, conspiracy to commit a crime, possession of illegal assault weapons, illegal explosives possession, insurance fraud, child endangerment and animal cruelty.

All those charged are scheduled to be arraigned in Yolo County on Monday.

Machado’s wife, Tammy Machado, was also arrested Thursday but was released after posting bail. She was a non-sworn administrative employee at the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office at the time of the explosion. Both Samuel and Tammy Machado were put on leave after the incident. She faces charges of mortgage fraud, filing a willfully wrong tax return and endangering a child by storing illegal explosives next to a family pool, according to the indictment.

Others indicted include Kenneth Chee, owner of Devastating Pyrotechnics, whose illegal fireworks were being stored at Machado's warehouse, has also been charged with murder and was arrested in Florida. He appeared in a Florida courtroom Friday and was told he will be extradited to California within the week, KCRA-TV reported.

Authorities also arrested Jack Lee, the operations manager for Devastating Pyrotechnic, and Gary Chan Jr., whose name is on the company’s federal license. Both also face murder charges. The fifth person charged with murder is Douglas Tollefsen, who was arrested in Northern California but has yet to be taken to a Yolo County jail, Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig said. Tollefsen stored and sold fireworks at Machado's warehouse, according to the indictment.

“This is not a case just about fireworks,” Nabity said. “They are devices that have so much more explosive fireworks than the law allows that they can’t be considered fireworks.”

Machado, Chee, Lee, Chan and Tollefsen were arrested Thursday along with Craig Cutright, the owner of Blackstar Fireworks, which operated at the Esparto property. Cutright, was a volunteer firefighter for the Esparto Fire District and was also listed as an employee of Devastating Pyrotechnics.

One of Cutright’s employees, Ronald Botelho III, has been in custody since December. More than a dozen new charges were filed against him Thursday, jail records show.

The grand jury concluded that the initial blast caused the death of seven people, Nabity said. Those killed included four workers: 18-year-old Jesus Ramos and his 22-year-old Jhony Ramos, of San Pablo, California; 28-year-old Joel Melendez, of Sacramento, and 43-year-old Carlos Javier Rodriguez-Mora, of San Andreas, California. Christopher Goltiao Bocog and Neil Li of San Francisco and Angel Mathew Voller, of Stockton, California, were also killed.

People living nearby described the blast being so strong that it blew open the doors of homes.

Nisa Gutierrez told the Sacramento CBS affiliate KOVR-TV that she and her daughter were in their yard and were nearly knocked over as their pony and goats scattered.

“We hear like a big boom, and feel the wave,” Gutierrez said. “I thought it was a bomb.”

After the explosion, officials in nearby Sutter and Yuba counties announced they would find alternatives for Fourth of July celebrations after their fireworks were destroyed in the blast.

Property damage is shown at the location of a July 1, 2025, fireworks explosion in Esparto, Calif., Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Property damage is shown at the location of a July 1, 2025, fireworks explosion in Esparto, Calif., Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

A service vehicle drives near damaged property at the location of a July 1, 2025, fireworks explosion in Esparto, Calif., Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Property damage is shown at the location of a July 1, 2025, fireworks explosion in Esparto, Calif., Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

A No Trespassing sign hangs on a fence outside the location of a July 1, 2025, fireworks explosion in Esparto, Calif., Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Damaged vehicles are shown at the location of a July 1, 2025, fireworks explosion in Esparto, Calif., Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)

Smoke and flames rise during a fireworks warehouse explosion near Esparto, Calif., Tuesday, July 1, 2025. (Kent Porter/The Press Democrat via AP, File)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The drones that targeted the United Arab Emirates’ Barakah nuclear power plant all came from Iraq, the country’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday, likely signaling that Iranian-backed Shiite militias launched the assault.

Such militias launched repeated drone attacks targeting Gulf Arab states after Israel and the United States began their war against Iran back on Feb. 28. Militias in the past have provided Iran a means by which to deflect blame over such attacks.

There were no reported injuries or radiological release at Barakah after the attack, which Emirati officials said hit a generator on the facility's perimeter.

The UAE, which has hosted air defenses and personnel from Israel, recently accused Iran of launching drone and missile attacks even after its ceasefire with the U.S. began April 8.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he's willing to give Iran a few days to make progress in peace negotiations before the United States resumes military strikes. Trump said Monday he was pulling back from plans to launch strikes Tuesday. He has repeatedly set deadlines for Tehran and then backed off.

Tensions have risen over the Strait of Hormuz, a vital energy waterway gripped by Iran while its ports remain under a U.S. naval blockade. A maritime data firm reported Tuesday that ship traffic through the strait more than doubled last week, but still remains a fraction of its pre-war levels.

Trump told reporters at the White House he “was an hour away from making the decision” to launch a new round of strikes and end the fragile ceasefire before he called off the attack Monday.

Trump didn’t set a firm deadline for Iran on Tuesday, at first saying he was giving Tehran “two or three days.” He then said Iran could have until “maybe early next week.”

Trump on Monday announced he was holding off on military strikes planned for Tuesday because “serious negotiations” were underway to end the war.

Key sticking points include the United States' insistence that Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping.

There's also broad disagreement over Iran's nuclear program. Trump has said he wants to remove highly enriched uranium from the Iran and prevent it from developing nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack on the UAE nuclear plant, though Iran and its proxies had been suspected.

Iraqi government spokesman Bassem al-Awadi, without addressing the Emirati Defense Ministry's report, issued a statement saying that Baghdad "expresses its strong condemnation of the recent drone attacks targeting the UAE."

“We also emphasize the importance of effective regional and international cooperation to prevent any escalation or harm to the stability of the region, or any targeting of the security and sovereignty of sisterly and friendly nations,” al-Awadi added.

There were three other drones that targeted the country over the last two days, the Emirati Defense Ministry added, without elaborating on their targets. Saudi Arabia, which had also condemned the nuclear plant attack, later said it had intercepted three drones that entered from Iraqi airspace.

The $20 billion Barakah nuclear power plant was built by the UAE with the help of South Korea and went online in 2020. It is the only nuclear power plant in the Arab world and can provide a quarter of the energy needs in the UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms that is home to Dubai.

Earlier Tuesday, a prominent Emirati diplomat elliptically criticized regional countries over the attacks the country has faced.

“The confusion of roles during this treacherous Iranian aggression is baffling, encompassing the Gulf Arab region’s surrounding states,” Anwer Gargash wrote on X. “The victim’s role has merged with that of the mediator, and vice versa, while the friend has turned into a mediator instead of being a steadfast ally and supporter.”

According to the Lloyd’s List Intelligence maritime data firm, a total of 54 ships transited the strait the week of May 11, more than double the 25 vessels counted the week before.

Traffic through the strait remains a trickle compared to before the war, when 130 or more vessels passed it each day.

Last week's traffic included 10 China-owned ships after Tehran said it would permit some Chinese vessels to transit, Lloyd’s said Tuesday on X. Two were carrying cooking gas headed for India.

Iran has imposed a murky vetting scheme for vessels trying to leave the Persian Gulf, which in some cases has included demanding payment and excludes US and Israeli vessels.

Iran depends on China as the sole remaining major customer for its heavily sanctioned oil. India is suffering a politically sensitive shortage of cooking gas supplies and has secured passage for some of its ships through diplomatic intervention with Iran.

Price reported from Washington. AP journalists David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany, and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed.

FILE - This undated photograph released by the United Arab Emirates' state-run WAM news agency shows the under-construction Barakah nuclear power plant in Abu Dhabi's Western desert. (Arun Girija/Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation/WAM via AP, File)