More than 200 people were flown to safety after a fire caused by a smoke machine ignited near the Mammoth Pool Reservoir northeast of Fresno.
The fire started on Saturday morning, making more than 500 firefighters and four helicopters to battle the El Dorado blaze east of San Bernardino. An estimated 8,600 acres (3,480 hectares) of the area were caught in the fire, destroying everything that comes in its way, according to Forbes.
The residents of nearby areas were also mandated to evacuate.
“Those responsible for starting fires due to negligence or illegal activity can be held financially and criminally responsible,” The California Fire department said.
CAL FIRE Law Enforcement has determined the El Dorado Fire, burning near Oak Glen in San Bernardino County, was caused by a smoke generating pyrotechnic device, used during a gender reveal party. The fire began at… https://t.co/w62ZRuBdNJ
— CAL FIRE BDU (@CALFIREBDU) September 7, 2020
Gender reveal parties have been trending for quite some years now. It is a party held during pregnancy where the gender of the unborn child is made known to the expecting parents’ family and friends.
The “gender reveal” used to be as simple as the color of the icing on the cake. Still, in recent times, people have started using more extravagant methods of revealing the gender like smoke machines, airplanes, etc., which has caused a lot of accidents.
Who even started this trend?
Jeena Karvunidis, the blogger who is known for popularising the trend of the said party, said in a Facebook post, “The fire that evacuated parts of California is from a GENDER REVEAL PARTY. Stop it. Stop having these stupid parties.”
According to Jeena’s Facebook post that dates back to 2019, she shared that she had a change of heart about such parties. She confirmed that she started this trend in 2008, but her definition of gender has changed since then; she believes assigning gender at birth leaves out so much of the child’s potential and talents.
The news comes after California has already suffered from a lot of fire-related incidents in the past weeks, making the state caught up in a pretty busy fire season.
The state has fought off two fires, the Creek Fire and the San Diego’s Valley fire.
The Creek Fire started on Friday and has affected 73,000 acres of steep and rugged terrain, according to a report by News18.
On the other hand, the Valley fire has spread to about 10,000 acres of land and has destroyed ten structures so far.
Californian Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in five counties because of the three fires, the Creek, San Diego, and El Dorado.
“The fires have burned tens of thousands of acres, destroyed homes and caused the evacuation of thousands of residents,” the governor’s office said.
In this season alone, 1.6 million acres of land have been destroyed already, courtesy to the three of the biggest fires in the history of the state.