A warehouse storing fireworks in Northern California erupted in flames and exploded on Tuesday, creating a massive fireball and setting off aerial pyrotechnics, according to local officials and eyewitness footage.
The Yolo County Sheriff's Office said the warehouse, near the Esparto area northwest of Sacramento, exploded and was actively burning.
Esparto Fire Protection District Chief Curtis Lawrence had no comment to reporters about whether there were any injuries Tuesday night.
"Everything is very preliminary right now," he said.
Firefighters responded to the fire at around 5:50 p.m. and found "a few commercial buildings well-involved, as well as numerous explosions and numerous spot fires throughout the area," Lawrence said.
The cause of the fire and explosion was unknown Tuesday night, the sheriff's office said.
The one large warehouse fire caused multiple spot fires, covering an area of around 80 acres in total, Lawrence said.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit said it was responding to the commercial and vegetation fire in Yolo County.
The agency, known as Cal Fire, is investigating the cause of the fire, but a representative from the sheriff's office said Tuesday night that there was nothing apparently criminal. Drones were being used to assess the damage.
Yolo County issued an evacuation order for what fire officials have named the Oakdale Fire, but some people were allowed to return Tuesday night. People south of an area south of Highway 16 remained under an evacuation order.
Esparto is a community of around 3,000 almost 30 miles northwest of Sacramento.
The explosion happened near the border between Esparto and Madison, which lies to the east, the sheriff’s office said.
