Gender Reveal Wildfire: El Dorado Fire Pleas and $4M Settlement

The El Dorado Fire gender reveal case ended with the couple who lit the smoke bomb pleading guilty in 2024 and the companies behind the device agreeing in 2026 to pay more than $4 million to the federal government. The fire started on September 5, 2020, when Refugio Manuel Jimenez Jr. and Angelina Renee Jimenez set off a pyrotechnic smoke device at El Dorado Ranch Park near Yucaipa, California, to announce the sex of their expected child. The device ignited dry brush and grew into a 22,744-acre wildfire that killed a hotshot firefighter, injured others, and burned for 72 days across San Bernardino and Riverside Counties.¹²

How the Fire Started

The device was designed to emit either pink or blue smoke. When the Jimenezes deployed it in the park, Southern California was in the middle of a record-breaking heat wave with temperatures over 118°F, and drought had pushed fire-danger indices to historic levels. The brush ignited almost immediately, and the flames moved from the park’s lower elevations into the San Gorgonio Wilderness Area of the San Bernardino National Forest.³

Before it was fully contained on November 16, 2020, the fire destroyed or damaged nine structures and fifteen outbuildings, injured two firefighters and thirteen civilians, and forced evacuations of mountain communities including Forest Falls and Mountain Home Village.¹² Suppression costs to the U.S. Forest Service alone exceeded $41 million.⁴

The Firefighter Who Was Killed

Twelve days into the fire, on September 17, 2020, Charles “Charlie” Morton was killed while working the line. Morton was a 39-year-old squad leader with the Big Bear Interagency Hotshot Crew and had spent 14 of his 18-year firefighting career with the U.S. Forest Service. He was conducting burnout operations on the slopes of San Bernardino Peak when wind gusts estimated at 60 miles per hour pushed spot fires across containment lines. Morton walked down Highway 38 to assess the new fires and try to hold the line. His final radio transmission reported that he was “in a corner.” He was found deceased near a bulldozer line after a search lasting several hours.³⁵

Morton was survived by his fiancée Monica, his daughter Ava, his parents, and two brothers. The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation honored him in 2021.⁵

Guilty Pleas and Sentencing

Nearly four years after the fire, on February 9, 2024, the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office announced plea agreements with both members of the couple.⁶

Refugio Manuel Jimenez Jr. pleaded guilty to one felony count of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Charles Morton and two felony counts of recklessly causing a fire to an inhabited structure. He was sentenced to one year in county jail, two years of felony probation, and 200 hours of community service, and was ordered to report to custody on February 23, 2024.⁷⁶

Angelina Renee Jimenez pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor counts of recklessly causing a fire to the property of another. She was sentenced to one year of summary probation and 400 hours of community service.⁶ Together, the couple was ordered to pay $1,789,972 in restitution to victims.⁷

The $4 Million Federal Settlement

In September 2023, the United States filed a product-liability lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on behalf of the Forest Service, seeking to recover firefighting costs and compensation for damage to federal land. The case, United States of America v. Wholesale Fireworks Corporation et al (No. 5:23-cv-01805), named three corporate defendants and initially included the Jimenezes, though the couple was later dropped from the civil case.⁸⁹

The government alleged that the corporate defendants designed, imported, and marketed smoke bombs that were illegal to sell in California, failed to safely design and label them, and failed to warn customers about the fire risk despite being aware of the dangers.¹⁰

The Department of Justice announced the settlement on June 2, 2026:

Wholesale Fireworks Corp. and American Fireworks Warehouse LLC, based in Hubbard, Ohio, agreed to pay $4 million. The company maintained it had no liability and stated it “vigorously contested the allegations.”¹¹
Pink or Blue Gender Team Inc., based in Miami, Florida, agreed to pay $50,000. The company did not respond to media requests for comment.⁴

The settlement specified that the claims were allegations only and that there had been no formal determination of liability.¹⁰

Why the Smoke Bomb Was Illegal in California

Under California Health and Safety Code § 12511, smoke bombs fall within the statutory definition of “fireworks.” Devices that do not bear the state fire marshal’s “safe and sane” seal are classified as dangerous fireworks and are illegal for private possession or use in the state. The federal complaint’s core theory rested on this classification: that the defendants had put a device into California commerce that state law did not permit civilians to possess or set off, and had done so without adequate warnings about its ability to ignite vegetation.¹⁰

1
KTLA. Settlement: Gender Reveal Ignites Deadly El Dorado Fire
2
CAL FIRE. El Dorado Fire Incident Page
3
U.S. Forest Service. El Dorado Fire Fatality Narrative
4
The Guardian. Gender Reveal Fireworks California Wildfire Settlement
5
National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. Charles E. Morton
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San Bernardino County District Attorney. El Dorado Case Update
7
NBC News. Father in Gender Reveal That Sparked Deadly Wildfire Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter
8
San Bernardino Sun. Makers of Gender Reveal Device Linked to Deadly El Dorado Fire Settle Lawsuit
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Justia Dockets. United States of America v. Wholesale Fireworks Corporation et al
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U.S. Department of Justice. Three Companies Pay More Than $4 Million to Settle Lawsuit Stemming From Gender Reveal
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FOX 8. Deadly Gender Reveal Fire: Ohio Fireworks Company Gets Massive Fine