[NEED-A-VETTE]

Couple whose gender-reveal ceremony sparked El Dorado fire charged with involuntary manslaughter

The couple whose gender reveal ceremony sparked the El Dorado wildfire that killed a firefighter last year in San Bernardino County have been charged with involuntary manslaughter, authorities announced Tuesday.

Refugio Manuel Jimenez Jr. and Angela Renee Jimenez pleaded not guilty to charges involving the El Dorado Fire, San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson announced at a news conference.

The charges included one felony count of involuntary manslaughter, 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 counts of recklessly causing fire to property.

The El Dorado Fire erupted on Sept. 5 when the couple, their young children and someone there to record video staged a baby gender reveal at El Dorado Ranch Park in Yucaipa, at the foot of the San Bernardino Mountains.

The El Dorado Fire was sparked Sept. 5, 2020, after a family used a pyrotechnic device to reveal the gender of the baby the couple was expecting. A Cal Fire official on Sept. 7 told The Desert Sun that the family had "absolutely been cooperating" with officials.

Over a 23-day period, the fire burned 22,680 acres in the Oak Glen and Yucaipa Ridge areas, and within the San Gorgonio Wilderness Area of the San Bernardino National Forest. According to a Nov. 18 update, the El Dorado Fire charred a total of 22,744 acres. It was expected to be contained by Dec. 31.

Charlie Morton, a 14-year veteran firefighter with the San Bernardino National Forest, died while fighting the blaze. The fire also resulted in 13 injuries.

The fire forced the evacuations of Oak Glen, north Yucaipa, Mountain Home Village, Forest Falls and Angelus Oaks communities. It destroyed five residences and 15 other structures, and damaged four residences.

https://www.desertsun.com/story/news...er/8036146002/

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