Esparto fireworks explosions: Devastating Pyrotechnics owner makes brief appearance in Yolo County court
By Jonathan Ayestas
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WOODLAND, California (KCRA) — The owner of one of the fireworks companies tied to the 2025 Esparto tragedy made a brief appearance in court on Thursday.
An attorney for Kenneth Chee, who owned Devastating Pyrotechnics, asked not to be arraigned and the court proceedings were continued to June 1 to join other defendants in the case.
Chee is being held without bail, and his attorney said he reserved the right to file a bail motion at a later time.
Chee arrived in Yolo County this week after being extradited from Florida in connection with the fireworks facility explosions that killed seven men. Of the eight people arrested, Chee is one of five facing second-degree murder charges.
Chee is also accused of conspiracy to possess explosives, make explosives and transport explosives.
Other charges included three counts of insurance fraud and more counts for explosives possession, possession of a destructive device, possession of explosives near private habitations and public roadways, unlawfully causing a fire, and managing a dangerous workplace.
Investigators found that at the time the fireworks facility ignited, there were about 1 million pounds of illegal explosives deemed too dangerous to be considered fireworks.
The other company that operated at the warehouse, Blackstar Fireworks, was owned by Craig Cutright. He and other defendants appeared in court Wednesday. This week, a judge approved Cutright’s $500,000 bail with strict conditions.
At the Wednesday court appearance, a judge denied a request for the victims’ families to display images of their loved ones.
Prosecutors allege Kenneth Chee tried to rebuild business after deadly fireworks explosion In a motion to deny bail filed in court on April 13, prosecutors argued that Chee had been “indifferent” to the dangers of the fireworks he imported and his “callous disregard for life” continued after the Esparto explosions with efforts to rebuild his business.
According to the document, Chee implemented no safety measures after a three-story building linked to Devastating Pyrotechnics that was storing illegal, overcharged explosives exploded on June 14, 2023.
The document also says that on Dec. 31, 2024, an 18-year-old was decapitated after lighting one of Chee’s “Northern Beast”-branded explosives. The document notes that the defendants continued to import and sell Northern Beast.
Later, when half a million pounds of illegal fireworks were seized in Commerce, California, in May 2025, Chee “repeatedly sought to bring those devices to Esparto.”
The document alleges that since the July 1, 2025, Esparto explosions, Chee has remained focused on efforts to “restart and rebuild his illegal enterprise” with co-defendants in Nevada, citing emails and phone records. He has tried to recruit new workers, according to the documents.
“Chee’s criminal network is large, and many individuals engaged in illegal explosives trafficking have not been charged with crimes,” the document says.
The document also alleges his public activities “demonstrate his brazen disdain for victims and the law.”
It says he tried to participate in a pyrotechnics show at the 2026 Chinese New Year celebration in San Francisco despite not having a pyrotechnics license, and socialized there in non-public areas of the event.
In making the case against bail, the document alleges that Chee has a “broad network” in the Bay Area, California, China and Malaysia where many contacts in the illegal explosives business continue to work.
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