Jesus Ramos,Jhony Ramos Obituary, Death;- Three individuals whose remains were discovered at the site of an explosion at a fireworks warehouse last week in Yolo County were identified as members of the same family, according to their relatives.
Family members have confirmed that Jesus Ramos, 18, Jhony Ramos, 23, and their stepbrother Joel Melendez, 28, were among the seven victims who perished following the explosion of a fireworks warehouse last Tuesday in the rural community of Esparto.
According to Anastasia Klafter, principal of Independence High School in the Inner Sunset, where Jesus graduated last month, both Jesus and Jhony Ramos were alumni of the San Francisco Unified District schools.
Yolo County officials announced on Monday that they plan to publicly disclose the names of those who lost their lives in the explosion this week, pending DNA analysis and notifications to next of kin.
Information regarding the ongoing investigation into the explosion, which is being conducted by the Office of the State Fire Marshal, has not yet been made available. The absence of official updates has caused frustration among the family members and loved ones of the seven individuals who are still unaccounted for.
Syanna Ruiz, the girlfriend of Jesus Ramos, expressed on Tuesday that she and the Ramos family are heartbroken over the loss of the three brothers and criticized officials for what she described as a delayed response.
“We’re very sad about it, but we’re more so angry at the moment that we can’t even grieve properly because guess what? We don’t have their ashes, we don’t have answers, we don’t even know whose body is which,” she stated.
Ruiz mentioned that the explosion occurred on Jesus’ first day of work. He was only scheduled to work for two days at the warehouse, where his brother and stepbrother had previously been employed.
Jesus initially expressed concerns to his brothers about the job’s safety, Ruiz said. “Dude, what if the warehouse blows up? Is it ok to have fireworks in there and everything?” Ruiz recalled Ramos asking his brothers.
“His biggest fear was to die burning and for it to have happened, his biggest fear in a way came true,” Ruiz said. Jhony reassured him that it was a “good summer job,” Ruiz said.
Jesus was remembered as a person who loved to paint and was proud to be from San Francisco. He worked as a plumber with his father and loved stargazing at a San Leandro park with Ruiz, who is two months pregnant with their child.
“He was such a joyful person. He’d always put others before himself,” said Ruiz. San Francisco school district officials said in an Instagram post they were “deeply saddened” by the deaths. Klafter, the school principal, said Jesus was a talented artist who had a lot of friends that cared about him at Independence High School.
“He had this really big smile. It sounds corny but it would sort of like light up a room,” Klafter said. “Our heart really, really goes out to his family. I can’t imagine the pain that they’re going through losing three siblings in such a horrific accident,” she added.
Claudia Delarios Morán, principal of Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8 School in the Mission District, where Jesus and Jhony attended, said Jesus was her daughter’s classmate at the school before she started working there. She described both brothers as kind and beloved community members in the Mission.
Jesus “continued to be part of our community even after moving on to high school himself, and I think that says a lot about his character,” she said.
Marisol Ramos, the victims’ mother, did not respond to phone calls from the Chronicle. She told Mission Local that she was cooking at a family member’s home in Sacramento the day of the explosion when she learned the warehouse was on fire. Ramos and her husband rushed to the site, where they said fireworks were going off. Marisol Ramos told the news outlet that she encountered a man who was attempting to put the fire out and who heard people screaming inside the facility.
Ruiz said they want answers from officials about the investigation and whether the warehouse was permitted to manufacture fireworks. A Cal Fire spokesperson said Monday that the two companies at the property, Devastating Pyrotechnics and Blackstar Fireworks, had state fireworks licenses and that the state marshal was verifying “if the licensee was operating within the licensing requirements.”
A vigil was scheduled for Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. at the parking lot of a Dollar General store in Esparto near the warehouse. A GoFundMe campaign was set up to pay for funeral costs and to support the Ramos family.
