A Gender Reveal Party Struck Again

CNN says that the El Dorado fires in San Bernardino County in Southern California have now scorched more than 10,574 acres of land since Saturday and is 16% contained. Luckily this fire was started for a very good reason: Someone needed to reveal their new baby’s gender! Sadly, and not surprisingly, this isn’t the first time that a fire broke out over some idiot wanting to let people know what kind of genitals their newborn kid will have.

Fire officials have called the El Dorado blaze “one of the most dangerous fires” they’ve seen in the area. And it was all started by a “smoke-generating pyrotechnic device” which had been used at a gender reveal party on Saturday at El Dorado Ranch Park in Yucaipa. Investigators got their hands on surveillance video which showed a couple with several children walk into the grass while another person lit a device. The device then blew up and the family is seen trying desperately to put out the fire they started. Everyone involved is said to be cooperating with investigators

While fire officials don’t want to release the video to news networks, they said there were at least three laws violated on the video, including “igniting the land” and arson. The level of how stupid and reckless the action was will determine whether charges are filed as misdemeanors or felonies. CalFire investigator Capt. Bennet Milloy told CNN:

“It really is a tragedy, it’s sad. They were hoping to remember the day in a different way,” Milloy said, adding that over 80% of fires are caused by humans and that people must be more aware of their surroundings. “You need to be extra cautious because you could be liable.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CE3DbXxB5qq/

Since the fire started, evacuations have been ordered in the area. The Mayor of Yucaipa, David Avila, said on Monday:

“In my 30 years as a citizen in Yucaipa, I have never seen such a large fire. As a retired firefighter with 32 years of experience, I can assure you I witnessed one of the most dangerous fires that we can have in this area.”

So far there have been no injuries and firefighters are said to be making “good progress.” A press release from San Bernardino National Forest stated:

“The hard work of crews on the ground, dozers and aircraft have enabled a lot of great work to be accomplished as fire lines continue to be constructed around the fire in preparation for the upcoming Red Flag Santa Ana Wind event starting at noon tomorrow and lasting through Wednesday.”

Back in 2017, the same fucking thing happened when a US Border Patrol Agent started a fire blowing up a gender reveal box and caused $8.2 million in damages.

Blogger Jenna Karvunidis is largely credited as the creator of the gender reveal party trend and she’s been begging us to stop it for a while now. She said this on Facebook about this new gender reveal-created fire:

“Stop having these stupid parties. For the love of God, stop burning things down to tell everyone about your kid’s penis. No one cares but you.”

“No one cares but you!” Put it on a t-shirt! If you want to tell us about your baby’s gender, please do the actual planet a favor and just fart up some colored smoke.

Pic: Instagram