San Ramon Man Charged in 7 Fatal Explosions

A San Ramon resident has been charged with murder in the July 1, 2025 fireworks explosion near Esparto that killed seven workers. (patch.com) Yolo County prosecutors said an April 10, 2026 grand jury indictment charged five people with seven counts of murder, and Kenneth Chee was arrested in Florida near Walt Disney World. The case also includes conspiracy and explosives charges against a total of eight defendants. (patch.com) (usatoday.com) The blast happened at a fireworks warehouse in rural Yolo County outside Esparto and injured two other people, according to prosecutors and local reports. NBC Bay Area and ABC7 reported that one of the murder defendants is former Yolo County sheriff’s lieutenant Samuel Machado. (nbcbayarea.com) (abc7news.com) Prosecutors said the case grew out of what they describe as an illegal fireworks operation, not a permitted neighborhood show. CapRadio reported that arrests were made in California and Florida after a monthslong investigation into the July 2025 explosion. (capradio.org) (ktvu.com) California fire officials had already suspended pyrotechnic licenses tied to people connected to the site in July 2025 while investigators worked the scene. State Fire Marshal Daniel Berlant said then that investigators were collecting evidence and following leads related to the warehouse explosion. (capradio.org) (abc10.com) In February 2026, CBS Sacramento reported that Cal Fire had completed its investigation into the cause of the warehouse fire and explosion. In August 2025, the Yolo County coroner said all seven victims died immediately from multiple blast and thermal injuries. (cbsnews.com) (patch.com) The charges push the case beyond workplace-safety questions and into homicide law, with prosecutors arguing the defendants knowingly handled and stored dangerous explosives. KTVU reported that several defendants have since appeared in Yolo County court, where at least one pleaded not guilty. (modbee.com) (ktvu.com) The next fight is likely to center on what the defendants knew about the risks at the Esparto site and when they knew it. For the families of the seven people killed on July 1, 2025, that question is now moving from an explosion scene to a murder case in court. (thereporter.com) (ktvu.com)