5 charged with murder in deadly California fireworks explosion, company owner arrested at Walt Disney World
The explosion occurred just before 6 p.m. on July 1, 2025, at a facility belonging to fireworks storage company Devastating Pyrotechnics, in Esparto, an agricultural town east of Sacramento. The blast burned dozens of acres and damaged nearby homes.
Five people have been charged with murder in a deadly explosion at a fireworks warehouse in Northern California last summer that killed seven people and injured two others. The owner of the company was arrested at Walt Disney World in Florida, according to an arrest affidavit.
Yolo County Deputy District Attorney Clara Nabity said a total of eight people face 30 charges in the case, including murder, conspiracy to commit a crime and possession of illegal assault weapons.
Kenneth Chee, the owner of Devastating Pyrotechnics, was arrested at Walt Disney World in Florida. (Orange County Sheriff's Office)
Kenneth Chee, the owner of Devastating Pyrotechnics, whose illegal fireworks were being stored at the warehouse, was charged with murder. He was arrested at Walt Disney World in Florida and appeared in an Orange County courtroom Friday. He will be extradited to California.
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.
Samuel Machado, who owned the warehouse and at the time was a lieutenant with the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office was also charged with murder. Machado's wife, Tammy Machado, also faces charges and was arrested Thursday but was released after posting bail. She was a non-sworn administrative employee at the Yolo County Sheriff's Office. Both Samuel and Tammy Machado were put on leave after the incident.
The fifth person charged with murder is Douglas Tollefson, who has not yet been arrested. Tollefson's role in the explosion was not immediately known.
Craig Cutright, the owner of Blackstar Fireworks, which operated the Esparto property owned by Machado and his wife, was also arrested. 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, was arrested in December for reckless possession of explosives and now faces 13 additional charges.
What they're saying:
"This is not a case just about fireworks," said Yolo County Deputy District Attorney Clara Nabity. "They are devices that have so much more explosive fireworks than the law allows that they can’t be considered fireworks."
The backstory:
The explosion occurred just before 6 p.m. on July 1, 2025, at a facility belonging to fireworks storage company Devastating Pyrotechnics, in Esparto, an agricultural town east of Sacramento. The blast burned dozens of acres and damaged nearby homes.
(L-R) Jesus Ramos, 28; John Ramos22; and Joel Jr. Melendez, 28, all worked for Devastating Pyrotechnics and were killed in the explosion.
The seven killed in the explosion were identified as:
- Carolos Rodriguez Mora, 43, of San Andreas
- Neil Li, 41, of San Francisco
- Angel Voller, 18, of Stockton
- Christopher Bocog, 45, of San Francisco
- Jesus Ramos, of San Pablo
- Jhony Ramos, 22, of San Pablo
- Joel Melendez, 28, of Sacramento
The Source: Information for this article was taken from the Yolo County District Attorney's Office, the Orange County Sheriff's Office in Florida, The Associated Press, and previous FOX Local reporting. This story was reported from Orlando.