Records show Esparto fire chief had worked with firm behind fatal fireworks blast
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Fire Chief Lawrence collaborated with Devastating firm prior to deadly explosion.
- Lawrence approved building permits for site despite fireworks operations there.
- Fireworks display was promoted but canceled after July 1 blast killed seven.
Public records from the Esparto Fire Protection District show that Chief Curtis Lawrence knew more about Devastating Pyrotechnics, the fireworks company linked to the deadly fireworks explosions and inferno July 1, than he previously disclosed.
During a news conference a day after the explosion and again days later — with the inferno still smoldering and family members of those feared dead present — Lawrence stated that, “we know that the property belongs to a pyrotechnics company that specializes in commercial display fireworks.” Lawrence, however, did not acknowledge July 2 that the company’s operators had sought his advice about buying property in Esparto, or that his fire protection district had hired Devastating Pyrotechnics to put on a fireworks show in 2023.
The records, which include correspondence between Devastating Pyrotechnics and Lawrence, show that the chief worked with the company on local fireworks shows and approved building plans, knowing that a fireworks company was already established there.
Among the information disclosed in the documents:
▪ Lawrence and the fire district sponsored a fireworks show put on by Devastating Pyrotechnics in 2023. Lawrence referenced the company in several emails as he sought permission from Yolo County officials.
▪ Lawrence knew that a fireworks company was operating at the 18-acre property of buildings and homes when he signed off on two building permits, approving site plans.
▪ Lawrence was solicited for advice in 2021 when the company sought to expand: “I wanted to get your feedback on this location before we start any formal discussions with the property owners about a purchase or long-term lease,” one Devastating leader wrote Lawrence.
▪ Volunteer firefighter Craig Cutright, who owned a company that had split off from Devastating and operated out of the same location, sought permission from Lawrence to hold a fireworks display in Esparto, scheduled for four days after the fatal July 1 blast. Organizers said the show did not happen because of the explosion.
Lawrence did not respond to a request for comment.
A June 17 email to Lawrence from Cutright, who is currently on leave as a volunteer firefighter, describes a 15-minute fireworks show at Tuli Memorial Park, to be sponsored by the Esparto Volunteer Firefighters Association.
The request to put on the show was made on company letterhead for BlackStar Fireworks, which is owned by Cutright. Cutright is listed as “Pyrotechnics Operator.”
Whether the fireworks display had actually been scheduled is unclear. “That show was not approved,” Monica Burns, an administrative assistant for the fire district, said in an email.
But the firefighters’ association announced and promoted the show on Facebook multiple times in the weeks leading up to the explosion that killed seven workers. The group announced the show’s cancellation 24 hours after the blast.
Burns told The Bee that the show was not approved because the blasts and subsequent Oakdale Fire “occurred prior to approval.”
Prior to starting BlackStar, a split
Cutright worked for Devastating Pyrotechnics for two decades, according to public records including biographies about its leaders that were submitted with show bids. In 2023, he formed his own company, Wyoming-based BlackStar Fireworks, according to filings with California’s Secretary of State’s Office.
In 2021, Cutright corresponded with Lawrence as a “Senior Show Producer” for Devastating. He had contacted Lawrence about storing the company’s fireworks beyond the property at 26850 County Road 23.
“Devastating Pyro is expanding its operations and is looking to buy additional property in the area for storage and handling of both 1.3 and 1.4 fireworks,” Cutright wrote in 2021, referring to a classification for both consumer and high-grade display fireworks.
Cutright explained that the company had their eyes on a 9.3-acre parcel, plus an adjoining 31 acres, three miles west along County Road 23.
“I wanted to get your feedback on this location before we start any formal discussions with the property owners about a purchase or long-term lease,” he wrote. “Let me know if you have time for a quick chat.”
The company does not appear to have followed through with those plans, but they did expand at their existing site at least three years before the explosion, according to county records and images from Google Street View and other mapping products.
The public records show that Lawrence signed off on two site plans to expand on the property owned by Sam Machado, a Yolo County sheriff’s deputy, and his wife, Tammy Machado, who works for the Sheriff’s Office as a legal secretary. Both are on administrative leave, the Sheriff’s Office told KCRA on Monday.
Yolo County Sheriff Tom Lopez used to be the chief of the neighboring Madison Fire Protection District. Sam Machado worked as Lopez’s assistant chief, KCRA reported.
The approval from the fire district was a prerequisite for the Machados to obtain a building permit. On an approval signed in December 2021, Curtis hand-wrote “no changes” to a proposed metal outbuilding measuring 30 feet wide by 150 feet long and 16 feet high. The fire district fee forms signed by Lawrence do not mention that a fireworks company was operating there.
Satellite and other mapping images suggest the structure, which replaced an area of farm implements near the corner of County Roads 23 and 86A, was built around the same time. It was one of multiple structures, that included two homes, destroyed in the explosion.
Investigators from the Office of the State Fire Marshal continue to piece together the deadly chain of events at the facility on July 1 while trying to determine just how many explosives were stored at the facility.
While the investigation into the explosion is ongoing, the Office of the State Fire Marshal suspended the licenses of the two fireworks companies linked to the Esparto facility, the Office announced on Tuesday.
In 2023, Lawrence wrote to the Yolo County Community Services Department seeking their approval for a fireworks show Devastating had offered for the community.
“The fire department has been offered a donation to host an aerial firework show,” Lawrence wrote in the email. He added, ”this event would be supported by the department, and we would have staff and engines on scene.” Lawrence proposed holding the event on July 2, 2023.
Two years later, Lawrence and Esparto firefighters would be responding to the deadliest fireworks explosion in recent history.
This story was originally published July 16, 2025 at 2:02 PM.
