Gender reveal party found to have sparked El Dorado wildfire

A gender reveal party was found to have sparked the El Dorado wildfire that has razed and destroyed 7,050 acres of land 40 miles northeast of Palm Springs. As intense wildfires are scorching through California, a pyrotechnic device used during a gender reveal party on September 5th was confirmed by local authorities to have ignited the blaze. The fire was reported to have started at 10:23 am.

In a statement from the CAL Fire Law Enforcement, the family responsible for starting the fire may be held financially and criminally liable for the damages. The party hosts could risk paying multi-million dollar fines as well as prison time.

According to Bennet Milloy, a spokesperson for the department, the people who launched the fireworks were still at the scene when the firefighters arrived.

"We know how it started because they were still there," he said. "That, and the fact that there were surveillance cameras in the park."

Milloy said it was a small family gathering and at the time the misfire occurred, they were about to take their places for a photo. It is not known if the family was local. If found guilty of negligence, they could face jail time and be held accountable for the entire cost of putting the fire out.

Having involved the services of hundreds of firefighters, engines, helicopters and planes, the family may have to pay up for the civil "suppression costs." Should criminal charges be filed, they may face more severe charges if homes have been damaged and more so if they have been completely razed by the fire. These charges may range from violations of public resource codes to arson under penal code section 452 of California.

The El Dorado fire burning through east of Los Angeles near Oak Glen in the San Bernandino region was said to have "spread from the park to the north on to Yucaipa Ridge that separates Mountain Home Village and Forest Falls from the City Yucaipa."

The blaze is just one of a dozen fires raging through California in the midst of a record-breaking heatwave reaching temperatures of up to 121 degrees. More than 200 people have been airlifted to safety as rapidly-moving fires close in on popular camping sites in California's Sierra National Forest.

No one was reported injured. However, an outbuilding was destroyed. Around 30 homes faced the threat of burning down as evacuation orders were put in place for the communities of Oak Glen, Yucaipa Ridge, Mountain Home Village and Forest Falls.

Residents have been reminded by CAL FIRE regarding the dry conditions and the critical weather sweeping throughout the state emphasising it would not take much to start a wildfire.