Exclusive: Owner of fireworks company linked to deadly explosion was denied federal license
It's not clear why Kenneth Chee, a 48-year-old optometrist, was denied a license by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, nor whether he needed that license to own or act as head of Devastating Pyrotechnics. Two years ago, federal authorities approved a license for another man, Gary Chan Jr. of San Francisco, to operate Devastating Pyrotechnics, documents show.
An attorney representing Chee and his company declined to comment, and ATF officials, who are investigating Tuesday's explosion at a warehouse on a property in the farm town of Esparto, did not respond to interview requests.
But Chee had apparently rebuilt his life after early trouble. As a young man in 1998, he was sentenced to five years in prison after being convicted of assault with a firearm and firing a gun from a motor vehicle at a person, according to state records. Chee served his time at the prison now called San Quentin Rehabilitation Center in Marin County. Under ATF regulations, anyone who has been convicted of a crime punishable by more than a year in prison cannot obtain a federal explosives license.
Yet additional records obtained by the Chronicle show Chee — who filed the company's articles of incorporation with the California Secretary of State — obtained approval to operate his fireworks company from California officials. Devastating Pyrotechnics held three licenses from the Office of the State Fire Marshal to import and export materials, sell fireworks and launch public displays, all under Chee's name.
Chee's status is one of many complexities investigators are sorting through in the aftermath of the explosion. The Esparto property, 35 miles northwest of Sacramento, was zoned for agriculture through Yolo County, and KCRA-TV reported it was owned by Sam Machado, a lieutenant with the Yolo County Sheriff's Office.
Meanwhile, the Chronicle viewed maps showing the operations of Devastating Pyrotechnics and another company on the property, Blackstar Fireworks. Devastating Pyrotechnics was permitted to store display-grade fireworks, the type used in municipal shows, in large metal storage containers far away from the building that burst into flames. The company's closest storage magazine was almost 2,000 feet away, or a third of a mile.
On Friday, the burned warehouse continued to smolder as several families of company workers awaited news. Authorities said seven people were missing, and a source familiar with the investigation told the Chronicle that one death had been confirmed. The blast also injured two people, and led to cancellations of at least a dozen July Fourth displays the company had been planning in the region.
On Thursday, a spokesperson for the state's Cal Fire agency, Jason Clay, said the facility's owner held valid state and federal licenses for storing explosives. 'Part of our investigation will be to go through and determine the materials that were in there,' he said.
Federal authorities in 2023 approved the license for Gary Chan Jr. to operate Devastating Pyrotechnics. ATF records indicate Chan owned the company. But in October 2023, while negotiating with the Solano County city of Rio Vista to display fireworks at an anniversary celebration, the company listed Chee as 'Owner/CEO,' Jack Lee as operations manager and Neil Li as general manager. There was no mention of Chan.
'Devastating Pyrotechnics currently employs 3 full-time individuals and maintains dozens of licensed and trained pyrotechnicians,' said a letter from Li to the city. 'All staff and technicians working on your display will be fully trained, federally approved, Devastating Pyrotechnics employees.'
A year earlier, while bidding to produce Pinole's Fourth of July fireworks show, Devastating Pyrotechnics listed Chee as a 'licensed ATF explosives importer & manufacturer.' The company said then that its administrative staff consisted of Chee, Lee and senior show producer Craig Cutright, who now owns Blackstar Fireworks and is a volunteer firefighter for the Esparto Fire Protection District.
The transfer and inserting of ignitors into fireworks is closely regulated. At the last ATF inspection a year ago, federal authorities found the company had properly stored the more powerful display fireworks in the storage containers which line the nearby agricultural fields.
After the explosion, Devastating Fireworks disabled its website, replacing it with a statement attributed to management.
'Our hearts and thoughts are with those we lost, their families, and everyone impacted in our community,' the statement read. 'We are grateful for the swift response of law enforcement and emergency personnel. Our focus will remain on those directly impacted by this tragedy, and we will cooperate with the proper authorities in their investigation.'
In past communications with cities, the company said it had safely put on fireworks displays for cities including San Jose and Redwood City, at a private inauguration party for the late San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, and at amusement parks and casinos.
The precise cause of the blast in Esparto is under investigation. Julie Heckman, executive director of the American Pyrotechnics Association, a leading trade group, said that while explosions of commercial-grade fireworks are extremely rare, they are generally caused by human error. 'A product is not just going to self-propagate,' she said.
She said that the building that was engulfed, based on footage she's seen, was not equipped for fireworks storage. She said it could have been a place where fireworks were being temporarily held, loaded for shipment or prepped for shows. In all of these cases, she said, the facility would have required licensing or the work would have had to abide by certain standards.
Often, for example, such facilities are built with noncombustible materials and equipped with rods and plates that personnel can touch to discharge static electricity. One of the riskiest activities performed in such buildings, which she called a potential 'pack house' or 'preparation area,' is installing 'electric matches' on the fireworks so they can be detonated from afar, for public shows. This action can accidentally prompt a deadly spark.
'We're all kind of eager to find out exactly what happened there,' Heckman said.
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