Three companies tied to a gender reveal smoke device have settled with the U.S. over their role in California’s El Dorado fire, reached after a pyrotechnic celebration released blue or pink smoke and helped ignite a wildfire that killed U.S. Forest Service wil
The spark came from a gender reveal party in a Yucaipa park in 2020 — a pyrotechnic device meant to release blue or pink smoke — and it turned into the El Dorado fire. one of those tragedies that permanently changes the people nearby. Nearly 23,000 acres burned. Nine structures were damaged or destroyed. U.S. Forest Service wildland firefighter Charles Morton was killed. Two more firefighters and 13 other people were injured. Hundreds of people had to evacuate their homes.
Now, the U.S. has secured a financial settlement from three companies tied to the smoke bomb used at the celebration, reaching more than $4 million in damages for their role in the blaze.
The settlement resolves a case the U.S. filed in September 2023, seeking damages “to recover Forest Service costs for fighting the fire and the damage it caused to federal land.” The terms were announced in a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office.
The companies named in the settlement include the maker of the smoke bomb. Wholesale Fireworks Corp. and its subsidiary. American Fireworks Wholesale LLC. both based in Ohio. Together, they agreed to pay $4 million in damages. Florida-based Pink or Blue Gender Team Inc., described as a marketer of the device, agreed to pay $50,000.
Prosecutors said the companies “failed to safely design and label the smoke bomb” and did not adequately “warn customers about the fire risk of the smoke bombs. ” even though they were allegedly aware of those dangers. The government also alleged the devices were illegal to sell in California and “should never have been sold” in the state.
That settlement follows the criminal resolution for the couple who deployed the smoke bomb at the party. They agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors and were sentenced in February 2024.
Refugio Manuel Jimenez Jr. was sentenced to a year in county jail and two years of probation and community service after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of firefighter Charles Morton. Jimenez Jr. also pleaded guilty to two felony counts of recklessly causing to an inhabited structure.
Angelina Jimenez pleaded guilty to the lesser charges of three misdemeanor counts of recklessly causing a fire to another’s property. She received a year of summary probation and community service, reported in February 2024.
The sequence links celebration to consequences. and it tracks a clear line through the government’s case: a smoke bomb built. marketed. and sold for a moment of spectacle; warnings that prosecutors say were inadequate; and a wildfire that killed a firefighter and injured others while forcing evacuations across the affected area.
The settlement does not undo what was lost in the El Dorado fire, but it marks a formal conclusion to the federal effort to recover costs tied to federal firefighting and damages — costs driven by a device that, prosecutors say, never should have been available in California.
El Dorado fire gender reveal smoke bomb Wholesale Fireworks Corp. American Fireworks Wholesale LLC Pink or Blue Gender Team Inc. Charles Morton wildfire settlement U.S. attorney’s office Yucaipa
Gender reveal parties are out of control.
Wait so the smoke “helped ignite” the wildfire like directly? I feel like wildfires already happen because it’s hot as heck. But yeah companies should’ve labeled it better I guess.
My cousin said these gender reveal things are basically mini fireworks, so how is it the companies fault if someone lit it wrong? Also $4 million sounds like way too low or way too high depending on how you look at it.
Blue or pink smoke… so like why is it called Pink or Blue Gender Team if it’s illegal to sell? The article says it failed to safely design and label it, but didn’t it get sold anyway? Tragic either way, and whoever thought a park was a safe spot for that deserved consequences.