The Couple Behind Last Summer's Gender Reveal Wildfire Faces 30 Years In Prison

The couple behind last summer's El Dorado wildfire, also known as the Gender Reveal Wildfire, has been charged with 30 crimes, including involuntary manslaughter, and faces 30 years in prison.

Refugio Manuel Jimenez Jr. and Angela Renee Jimenez set off a smoke bomb on September 5th, 2020 in San Bernandino County during a gender reveal party, inadvertently causing the burning of 23,000 acres, five homes, fifteen buildings, and the death of 39-year-old firefighter Charles Morton.

In addition to the charge of involuntary manslaughter, the couple faces 29 separate charges related to recklessly causing a fire. The couple pleaded Not Guilty to the charges and will have a court date in September.

The El Dorado wildfire marked the moment public opinion fully turned against the practice of elaborate gender reveals and inspired many memes about the mass destruction.

pic.twitter.com/xTW6540Apy

— C. Spencer Yeh (@cspenceryeh) September 7, 2020

?? pic.twitter.com/oUlVaFBp0Z

— muscle skoals (@MuscleSkoals) September 7, 2020

IT’S A BOY!!!! pic.twitter.com/pv7TYRJqww

— Eric Allen Hatch (@ericallenhatch) September 7, 2020

It also led to increased media coverage of gender reveal disasters. In 2021 alone, news media has reported multiple deaths caused by gender reveals, including a father-to-be who died after a homemade pyrotechnic device he was working on for the occastion exploded and two pilots who died when they crashed into the Caribbean Sea while putting on an elaborate air show announcing a couple's baby's gender.