SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (NEWSnet/AP) — A man whose family’s gender-reveal photo-shoot sparked a California wildfire that killed a firefighter in 2020 has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, prosecutors said.
The El Dorado Fire began Sept. 5, 2020, when Refugio Jimenez Jr. and Angelina Jimenez and their children staged a photo session for their baby gender-reveal at El Dorado Ranch Park in Yucaipa.
A smoke-generating pyrotechnic device was set in a field and ignited dry grass on a scorching day. The couple frantically tried to use bottled water to douse the flames and called 911, authorities said.
Wind stoked the fire as it spread through national forest land, about 75 miles east of Los Angeles.
On Feb. 9, the San Bernardino County district attorney announced that Refugio Jimenez Jr. had pleaded guilty to one count of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of recklessly causing fire to an inhabited structure. He will be taken into custody Feb. 23 to serve a year in jail. His sentence also includes two years of felony probation and 200 hours of community service.
Angelina Jimenez pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor counts of recklessly causing fire to property of another. She was sentenced to a year of summary probation and 400 hours of community service. The couple was also ordered to pay $1,789,972 in restitution.
Charles Morton, 39, of Big Bear Interagency Hotshot Squad, was killed on Sept. 17, 2020, when flames overran a remote area where firefighters were cutting fire breaks. Morton had worked as a firefighter for 18 years, mostly with U.S. Forest Service.
The blaze injured 13 others and forced evacuation. It destroyed five homes and 15 additional buildings.
“Resolving the case was never going to be a win,” District Attorney Jason Anderson said in a news release, offering his condolences to Morton’s family. “To the victims who lost so much, including their homes with valuables and memories, we understand those are intangibles can never be replaced.”
In September, U.S. Forest Service filed a lawsuit against the pyrotechnic device’s manufacturers, distributors and sellers, as well as the couple. The lawsuit alleges the “smoke bombs” used were illegal in California and known to be defective.
Mike Scafiddi, lawyer for Refugio Jimenez Jr., said the couple has wanted to speak publicly about the fire, its impact on the community and Morton’s death, but cannot because of the federal litigation.
The lawyer said his client had researched and tested the pyrotechnic device, finding no problems online or during his test.
Scafiddi said the couple had not held a gender-reveal party, contrary to what has been stated publicly. He said it was a photo shoot to learn the baby’s gender and attended by a few relatives and their children.
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