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Fireworks companies operating in California will face tighter licensing and regulatory requirements under a bill signed Sunday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
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The bill, Senate Bill 828, was introduced in the months after more than 1 million pounds of fireworks exploded in a warehouse in Esparto, killing seven people. The bill, authored by state Sen. Christopher Cabaldon, D-West Sacramento, makes several changes to fireworks oversight in an effort to close regulatory gaps exposed by the explosion.
“What happened in Esparto was a tragedy. Making it even more difficult to comprehend, was the realization that it might have been prevented,” Cabaldon said in a news release. “I’ve spent the past year working with fire officials, first responders and the local community to understand exactly where the system failed. This law is the result of that work.”
The bill was championed by Cabaldon in the state Senate and shepherded through the Assembly by Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Winters, who is listed as its co-author. It was passed by the Legislature last month.
The bill strengthens reporting requirements to state and local agencies when companies import fireworks, establish new facilities or seek a fireworks license. The fireworks companies operating in Esparto were known to the Office of the State Fire Marshal, a division of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection responsible for overseeing explosives, but the companies failed to meet certain reporting and permitting requirements, rendering the facility and every explosive on site illegal.
Local authorities also knew about the fireworks facility but did not conduct safety inspections or ensure that the companies followed local ordinances or state hazardous materials laws. The new law requires local authorities to inspect fireworks facilities in their jurisdictions annually and authorizes them to suspend or revoke fireworks licenses if a facility is out of compliance.
The bill also expands the list of criminal convictions that make people ineligible to hold a fireworks license. State law previously barred only people convicted of arson-related crimes from obtaining fireworks licenses, but the new law prevents anyone convicted of a felony from obtaining a license. Kenneth Chee, the CEO of Devastating Pyrotechnics, the company at the center of the Esparto case, was ineligible to hold a federal explosives license because of a felony conviction but was able to obtain state licenses because the conviction was not arson-related.
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The new law also increases penalties for repeat violators of state fireworks laws, allowing jurisdictions to impose fines of up to $5,000 on repeat offenders.
Senate Bill 828 was shaped by fireworks industry insiders and public safety officials, who reviewed existing fireworks laws and available information about the July 1, 2025, explosion. Cal Fire’s review of gaps in state fireworks laws was supported by an industry and law enforcement task force that included representatives from some of the state’s largest fireworks dealers.
“SB 828 represents important progress, and TNT Fireworks looks forward to helping make its provisions work,” Carson Anderson, president of TNT Fireworks, the largest distributor of consumer fireworks in California, said in a news release. The bill should be seen as the beginning of an ongoing legislative process, rather than a fait accompli, Anderson said.
“The ultimate goal is to prevent another tragedy like Esparto,” Anderson said. “That means continuing to improve California’s ability to identify dangerous illegal aerial fireworks operations before they put communities at risk.”
Among the next steps TNT Fireworks would like to see from legislators are improvements to information-sharing and communication between fireworks regulators and public agencies overseeing imports. Publicly available shipping records shed light on the companies operating in Esparto, but officials were not monitoring the records, which revealed that a company was importing raw chemicals used to manufacture fireworks, an activity for which it was not licensed.
“Local fire officials now have the ability to find dangerous operations before they cause harm,” Cabaldon said in a news release. “It won’t undo what happened in Esparto, but it’s what we owe the people who died to ensure a tragedy like this never happens again.”
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