A massive fire broke out at a fireworks warehouse in Yolo County, in the small town of Esparto on Tuesday evening, sparked by an explosion, just days ahead of July Fourth celebrations.

The first explosion occurred just before 6 pm Tuesday, at what appears to have been an above-board commercial fireworks storage facility, near County Road 23 and County Road 86A in Yolo County. As CBS Sacramento reports, the explosion led to multiple other explosions as caches of fireworks were ignited, and multiple buildings were engulfed. This also led to a brush fire in the area, and an evacuation order for an area south of Highway 16. The fire grew to 72 acres before it was contained.

Esparto is primarily a farming community about 35 miles northwest of Sacramento.

Update: As the Chronicle reports via Cal Fire officials, seven people are reported missing, though it's not clear if they were all on the property at the time where the explosion occurred.

The owner of the facility has not been identified.

"We do believe this location is owned by an active pyrotechnic license holder, and as part of our investigation, we will be working to determine that everything happening at the facility was within our license requirements" said California Deputy Fire Marshal Kara Garrett, in a statement to KXTV. "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."

Daniel Berlant, Cal Fire's State Fire Marshal, confirmed to KXTV that the facility was "involved in importing and exporting fireworks and commercial fireworks." And he added the explosions and conflagration were like nothing he'd ever seen in 20 years of firefighting.

Press Democrat photographer Kent Porter was on assignment in the Sacramento area and came upon the scene, capturing some dramatic images.

As CBS Sacramento reported, around 2,200 PG&E customers in the area were without power following the explosions and fire.

While the fire was mostly contained Tuesday night, the public was being advised to avoid the area.

"There is still an active evacuation zone in place around the property, and it will likely remain in effect throughout the night," the Yolo County Sheriff's Offfice said. They noted that residents at a nearby facility for migrant farm workers, the Madison Migrant Center, were allowed to return home.

"The fire will take time to cool, and once it does, explosive experts must safely enter the site to assess and secure the area," the sheriff's office added. "We strongly urge everyone to continue avoiding the area for the next several days so that fire crews, law enforcement, and emergency personnel can do their jobs safely and effectively."

The California’s State Fire Marshal Arson and Bomb Unit is leading the investigation into what happened, but the sheriff's office said that it was not currently "investigating anything criminal at this time."

Photo via danny.x3martinez/Instagram