Refugio Jimenez Jr. and his wife, Angelina Jimenez, faced legal consequences for their role in sparking the massive ‘El Dorado’ wildfire. The fire, which erupted in September 2020 during a gender reveal photoshoot in Yucaipa, California, consumed over 22,000 acres, resulted in the death of a firefighter, caused injuries to others, destroyed homes, and led to widespread evacuations.
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The device, intended to reveal the gender of Jimenez’s baby by emitting colored smoke, ignited the devastating blaze. The fire claimed the life of 39-year-old Charles Morton, a firefighter with the US Forest Service and a member of the elite Big Bear Interagency Hotshot Squad. It inflicted injuries on two more firefighters, along with 13 civilians. Following the incident, Refugio Jimenez Jr. entered a guilty plea to involuntary manslaughter and two counts of recklessly causing fire to an inhabited structure.
Angelina Jimenez, on her part, pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor counts of recklessly causing a fire to another’s property. The court handed down a sentence of one year in jail for Refugio, alongside two years of felony probation and 200 hours of community service. Angelina received a sentence of summary probation for a year and was ordered to complete community service. Additionally, the couple has been mandated to pay restitution amounting to $1,789,972 for the damages caused by the fire. The case resolution, as stated by District Attorney Jason Anderson, did not present a scenario where outcomes could be considered as victories, given the extensive damage to land, property, emergency resources, and the profound loss of life.