The couple whose pyrotechnics during a gender-reveal party set off what came to be known as the massive El Dorado fire in San Bernardino County in 2020 was sentenced Friday after reaching a plea deal with prosecutors .
The couple inadvertently started the 22,000-acre fire on a scorching hot day in a Yucaipa park with a device that was supposed to emit blue or pink smoke, authorities said. The fire killed U.S. Forest Service wildland firefighter Charles Morton, injured two more firefighters and 13 others, destroyed five homes and forced hundreds to evacuate.
Refugio Manuel Jimenez Jr. was sentenced to a year in county jail, two years of felony probation and community service after pleading guilty to a felony count of involuntary manslaughter in Morton’s death and two felony counts of recklessly causing fire to an inhabited structure, according to the San Bernardino County district attorney’s office.