Gender reveal started blaze that killed firefighter. California couple is charged
.jpg "A couple’s plan to reveal their baby’s gender at a party went up in smoke at El Rancho Dorado Park in Yucaipa, California, in September when a pyrotechnical device they used sparked a wildfire that has burned thousands of acres. Refugio Manuel Jimenez Jr. and Angela Renee Jimenez face 22 charges, County DA Jason Anderson said.")
A couple set off a pyrotechnic device at a gender reveal party, sparking a brush fire that spread from the El Dorado Ranch Park in Yucaipa to Yucaipa Ridge in September, officials said.
The El Dorado fire led to the death of firefighter Charles Morton, injured 13 others, including 2 other firefighters and burned 22,000 acres, according to the Tribune News Service. The blaze impacted residential homes and forced evacuations.
On Tuesday, San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson announced during a news conference that Refugio Manuel Jimenez Jr. and Angelina Renee Jimenez face manslaughter charges. They were also charged with “three felony counts of recklessly causing a fire with great bodily injury, four felony counts of recklessly causing a fire to inhabited structures” and 22 misdemeanor fire-related counts, according to the district attorney’s office.
The couple was arraigned Tuesday, pleaded not guilty and were released without bail with a court date scheduled for Sept. 15, according to Anderson.
“I mean, he was fighting a fire that was started because of the smoke bomb,” Anderson said, referring to Morton. “That’s the only reason he was there.”
“I think it encompasses the impact that the misconduct had on this community in San Bernardino County,” Anderson said of the charges. “You’re dealing with lost lives, you’re dealing with injured lives, you’re dealing with people’s residences were burned and their land that was burned. And that encompasses a lot of not only emotion, the damage both financially and psychologically in a way that many will never get back, particularly the Morton family.”
The fire was sparked Sept. 5 when temperatures rose to 20 degrees above normal and the pyrotechnic device ignited the ground, The Washington Post reported, citing Anderson.
The Jimenezes tried to put out the fire using water bottles before alerting authorities, according to the publication.
This story was originally published July 21, 2021 at 9:31 AM with the headline "Gender reveal started blaze that killed firefighter. California couple is charged."