The California Fire Marshal's office searched a home in San Francisco Tuesday, which is believed to be linked to a deadly fireworks warehouse explosion in Yolo County last week.
On July 1, seven people died in a small agricultural community in Esparto, about 80 miles north of the Bay Area. The deceased was withdrawn from a warehouse operated by devastating fireworks technology, a San Francisco-based business known for performing fireworks shows across the municipality.
Officials from the California Forestry and Fire Marshal's Office searched for a home in San Francisco on Tuesday, according to news station KPIX. The home is registered as a company mailing address for devastating pyrotechnics and its CEO Kenneth Chee in the state's pyrotechnic wholesale database.
The station reported that they joined Yolo and Sacramento County sheriff’s officials, as well as San Francisco police. Members of the bomb squad in the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office were also present during the search for houses, local news outlet Hoodline reported.
“Investigators are actively tracking numerous prospects and providing multiple search warrants as part of the investigation process,” a spokesperson for the California Fire Marshal's Office said in a statement. “While we are unable to provide additional details at the moment, please know that we are committed to a thorough and comprehensive investigation.”
A Yulo County spokesman said they would not comment due to the ongoing investigation.
Although seven people who died in the warehouse have not been formally identified, family members have advanced and said many are Latino men who work part-time for devastating fireworks technology, their mission is to pack fireworks on the weekend of July 4.
Not long before 6 p.m. on July 1, some emergency situation in the warehouse informed Esparto firefighters. Fireworks shot out of the building and then broke out in the warehouse in a large explosion.
Chee's attorney Douglas Horngrad said in a statement that his client “is innocent of any wrongdoing. We will avoid further public comments until the investigation is over. We once again express our heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims.”
On Monday, emergency officials said they were transitioning around the recovery phase of the incident. Officials are now focused on the enforcement phase of the investigation.
