By CHRISTOPHER WEBER and TRÂN NGUYỄN

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Rescue crews were searching on Thursday for seven people still missing days after an explosion at a fireworks warehouse in Northern California shook a tiny farming community and forced the cancellation of nearby July Fourth celebrations.

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The barrage of fireworks that exploded Tuesday caused a massive blaze that led to other spot fires and collapsed the building in Yolo County about 40 miles northwest of Sacramento.

Family members gathered near a sheriff’s checkpoint about a mile from the blast site in rural Esparto, hoping for news about their loved ones. Syanna Ruiz, who is pregnant, said her boyfriend, 18-year-old Jesus Ramos, was working his first day at the warehouse when the explosion occurred. Ramos’ brothers, 22-year-old Johnny Ramos and 28-year-old Junior Melendez, were also missing, she said.

“I’m just praying to God that some way, somehow, they’re OK,” Ruiz told the Sacramento Bee on Wednesday.

Two people were treated for injuries, officials said. The cause of the explosion was under investigation.

The warehouse was managed by Devastating Pyrotechnics, which has more than 30 years of experience designing and producing fireworks shows in the Bay Area, according to a screenshot of its website before it was taken down. The company, with headquarters in both San Francisco and Esparto, focuses mainly on display fireworks for big productions instead of those for retail.

“Our hearts and thoughts are with those we lost, their families, and everyone impacted in our community,” the company said in a statement. “Our focus will remain on those directly impacted by this tragedy, and we will cooperate fully with the proper authorities in their investigation.”

After Tuesday’s blast, officials in nearby Sutter and Yuba counties issued a statement calling the company “a trusted partner and a cherished part of our regional fireworks celebrations.”

Living near a fireworks warehouse always means a risk of fire and explosion, said fire investigator expert Richard Meier, but it is especially dangerous when it involves fireworks for large shows.

“You don’t want to live in the house right next door,” he said, adding that such large fireworks can “shoot a quarter of a mile or more.”

Meier said anything from a nearby brush fire to workers using equipment that were potential ignition sources could have triggered the explosion. Fireworks being stored too closely in large quantity also could have contributed to the scale of the blast.

The company’s lawyer didn’t immediately respond to question about whether the business was manufacturing fireworks on-site or how many fireworks were stored at the facility.

Authorities were working with the property’s owner and monitoring the area using drones to find the missing people as small explosions continued late Wednesday, said the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.

The fire was held at nearly 80 acres after scorching surrounding agricultural fields, officials said.

“This type of incident is very rare, as facilities like this are required to not only follow our stringent California pyrotechnic requirements, but also federal explosive storage requirements,” Cal Fire said.

Nisa Gutierrez told the Sacramento CBS affiliate KOVR-TV that the blast was so strong it blew open the doors of her home, damaging the door frames.

She and her daughter were in their yard and were nearly knocked over as their pony and goats scattered.

“We hear like a big boom, and feel the wave,” Gutierrez said. “I thought it was a bomb.”

Crews including a team with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were working to enable safe access to the site “to conduct recovery operations and bolster investigative efforts for the explosion investigation,” the statement said.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said it was tracking what happened and that state ground and air resources were deployed.

Officials in nearby Sutter and Yuba counties announced Wednesday that they were exploring alternatives for Fourth of July celebrations after their fireworks were destroyed in the blast.

“This tragic incident is a sobering reminder of the many hands behind the scenes who help create joy for others,” they said in a statement.

MIAMI (AP) — David Festa surrendered three first-inning runs, and Matt Wallner accounted for the Twins’ only run as the Miami Marlins beat Minnesota, 4-1, in the rubber match of a three-game series Thursday.

The Marlins have won their past four series; the Twins are 1-4 since they had a three-game win streak snapped last weekend at Detroit.

Agustín Ramírez hit a two-run home run, Xavier Edwards singled twice and Eury Pérez (1-2) struck out a season-high seven and walked one in six innings of one-hit ball for his first win since June 25, 2023, against Pittsburgh. Cade Gibson relieved Pérez in the seventh after 80 pitches.

Minnesota Twins starting pitcher David Festa throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Thursday, July 3, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Ramírez connected on a 1-2 fastball from Twins starter Festa (2-3) and launched it 425 feet to left-center during a three-run first.  He Ramírez all major league rookies with 13 home runs, and the homer extended his lead among rookies in extra-base hits to 29 (15 doubles, one triple, and 13 home runs).

Festa allowed five hits and four runs with seven strikeouts in six innings.

The Marlins (39-46) have won 10 of their past 12 — including an eight-game winning streak — and have the same record as the Atlanta Braves for third in the NL East.

The Twins went 2-4 in their six-game road trip, also losing a series at Detroit.

Edwards hit leadoff singles in the first and third and stole his team-leading 15th base. Kyle Stowers went 0-for-3, ending his nine-game hitting streak. Ronny Henriquez earned his fifth save.

Wallner’s two-out homer against Gibson made it 4-1 in the seventh. Anthony Bender then gave up consecutive singles before getting pinch-hitter Ryan Jeffers to ground out to end the inning.

Up next

The Twins begin a three-game home series against Tampa Bay with a July 4 afternoon start Friday at Target Field. right-hander Chris Paddack (3-7, 4.70) is scheduled to start for Minnesota.

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for the deportation of several immigrants who were put on a flight in May bound for South Sudan, a war-ravaged country where they have no ties.

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The decision comes after the justices found that immigration officials can quickly deport people to third countries. The majority halted an order that had allowed immigrants to challenge any removals to countries outside their homeland where they could be in danger.

The court’s latest order makes clear that the South Sudan flight detoured weeks ago can now complete the trip.

It reverses findings from federal Judge Brian Murphy in Massachusetts, who said his order on those migrants still stands even after the court lifted his broader decision.

The Trump administration has called the judge’s finding “a lawless act of defiance.”

Attorneys for the eight migrants have said they could face “imprisonment, torture and even death” if sent to South Sudan, where escalating political tensions have threatened to devolve into another civil war.

The push comes amid a sweeping immigration crackdown by Trump’s Republican administration, which has pledged to deport millions of people who are living in the United States illegally.

Authorities have reached agreements with other countries to house immigrants if authorities can’t quickly send them back to their homelands. The eight men sent to South Sudan in May had been convicted of serious crimes in the U.S.

Murphy, who was nominated by Democratic President Joe Biden, didn’t prohibit deportations to third countries. But he found migrants must have a real chance to argue they could be in danger of torture if sent to another country.

Are you one of 90,000 music fans heading to the Minnesota Yacht Club Festival later this month? If so, be sure to skip the light rail.

All 13 of the Green Line’s St. Paul stations — from Raymond Avenue to the stop outside Union Depot in Lowertown — will be offline for maintenance from late on the night of July 11 to early on the morning of July 21, dates that overlap with the three-day music festival at Harriet Island Regional Park.

The unusual nine-day closure will allow Metro Transit to replace worn track and perform other routine track work in the corridor, as well as conduct concrete work on the Cedar Street bridge.

Word of the closure took the St. Paul mayor’s office by surprise this week, drawing some consternation inside City Hall and a flurry of calls from Deputy Mayor Jaime Tincher to Metropolitan Council Regional Administrator Ryan O’Connor, who was previously the county manager for Ramsey County. Tincher met with Met Council and Metro Transit officials around 2 p.m. Thursday for some tense talk, but the mayor’s office had no immediate changes to announce afterward to the maintenance schedule that was posted this week on Metro Transit’s website.

“We just found out this week along with everybody else,” said Emily Buss, a spokesperson for St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter’s office, as the meeting unfolded.

Tincher “called him right away and was like, ‘What’s going on here? You guys have known about this event for months now.’ We’ve been communicating with the Met Council since January saying, ‘Hey, this is coming up,’” Buss said. “I guess they decided routine maintenance had to happen right now.”

The closure coincides with two Minnesota United home games at Allianz Field — 7:30 p.m. July 12, versus the San Jose Quakes, and 7:30 p.m. July 16, versus the Los Angeles FC — as well as the three-day Yacht Club festival, which runs from July 18-20 at Harriet Island Regional Park. Some 30,000 fans are expected to attend each day of the festival, which brings together 30 bands, including widely-recognized acts like Hozier, Sheryl Crow, Weezer, Green Day, Fall Out Boy and Sublime.

How do you get 90,000 people to Harriet Island without the light rail? Metro Transit will offer bus alternatives, but details have yet to be announced.

This will be the second consecutive year of the Yacht Club Festival at Harriet Island, which hadn’t hosted marquee acts since the River’s Edge Music Festival in 2012.

St. Paul City Council President Rebecca Noecker was surprised to be informed Thursday that the Green Line would be offline in St. Paul for the entirety of the festival.

“That’s really concerning. We obviously need all of our partners pulling together when we’re doing something as significant as the Yacht Club Festival,” said Noecker, who took in the shows with her family a year ago. “We went both days last year and it was incredible. I’ve never seen Harriet Island so full. You couldn’t see the grass, which is the way it should be in that space.”

A reporter’s calls to Metro Transit were not returned Thursday morning.

Kathryn Kovalenko contributed to this report.

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