Esparto fireworks explosion prompts legislative and regulatory changes
By Lee Anne Denyer
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ESPARTO, California (KCRA) — More than two and a half months after a fireworks explosion in Esparto left seven men dead, officials are exploring legislative and regulatory changes to prevent future incidents.
As the California State Fire Marshal’s office is finalizing its report on the July 1 explosion, the office’s General Fireworks Advisory Committee met for the first time since the incident. The committee is comprised of representatives from the fireworks industry, state agencies, the fire service, and other stakeholders. Licensed pyrotechnic operators and members of the fireworks display industry, for example, are committee members.
“(Monday) was really important for us to formally brief them on where we are with this case,” State Fire Marshal Daniel Berlant said of the investigation. “What happened in Esparto, while still under investigation, has already taught us that there were loopholes that were being used.”
It’s unclear at this point when the Office of the State Fire Marshal’s final report will be released. Berlant said Monday that his team is in the process of writing it and closely working with the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office, but that he could not share a definitive date at this point as to when the report would be published.
Meanwhile, Berlant said the office is also actively working on revising its regulatory standards and best practices for fireworks licenses. This process was already underway, he said, before the explosion, but has been intensified given the gravity of what happened in Esparto.
“We know we are planning to make some regulatory change to ensure that any license holder in the state of California proves, with documentation, that they have their local permits to store fireworks,” Berlant said. “It’s required, but this makes sure that there’s that checks and balances, that they’re following the local requirements as they’re required to follow the state and federal requirements.”
California State Senator Christopher Cabaldon, who represents Esparto, also attended Monday’s meeting, sharing with members details about new legislation he’s introduced in response to the Esparto explosion.
“We’ve got to fix licensure loopholes, and we have to fix this gap between people saying they have local permits to store tons of explosives when they really don’t,” Cabaldon said.
If approved, the bill would require a fireworks licensee to provide to the State Fire Marshal documentation of local land use permits and information about how fireworks would be stored.
This bill would also authorize the State Fire Marshal to deny the application for a license or the application for renewal of a license to a person who served more than a year in prison for a violent crime in which public safety was threatened.
“It’s not an indictment of the entire fireworks industry by any means,” Cabaldon said. “It is a big wakeup call that this isn’t an isolated incident in the middle of rural Yolo County that nobody else should be paying attention to. It is a California-wide problem, and we’re putting people at risk.”
Cabaldon said he expects the bill will evolve as more information about the Esparto investigation is revealed, but his focus now is to ensure steps are being taken to ensure there is effective enforcement of the rules surrounding dangerous fireworks and that updated rules close loopholes that are already evident.
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