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A gender reveal party is blamed for starting a wildfire that has since spread across 7000 acres in California.
US officials say the fire at El Dorado Ranch Park in Southern California was started by a “smoke-generating pyrotechnic device” during a gender reveal party.
Ringo HW Chiu / AP
A member of a hand team works on the firing line in Yucaipa, California.
The fire started on Saturday (local time) and quickly spread northward. Since then, it has spread over more than 7000 acres and forced residents to flee their homes, with evacuation notices required in some areas.
According to the California Fire Service, only 5 percent of the El Dorado fire has been contained.
READ MORE:
* California faces record ‘furnace-like’ heat as fires rage across the state, causing injuries
* California’s massive wildfires are expected to worsen as lightning and windstorms progress
* Gender reveal party goes horribly wrong: accidental pipe bomb kills American woman
* Forgive me for starting the gender reveal trend.
Ringo HW Chiu / AP
Members of the fire service work on the fire line in Yucaipa, California.
Intense and destructive wildfires have broken out across California this summer, with thousands of acres still ablaze.
Since August 15, the state has seen more than 900 fires started, 1.6 million acres burned, eight deaths, and nearly 3,300 buildings destroyed, the Washington Post reported.
According to the state fire service, the average fire season sees about 310,000 acres burned.
Richard Vogel / AP
Los Angeles Fire Department personnel are working to put out several small wildfires in the Sepulveda Basin in the Sherman Oaks area of Los Angeles.
Over the weekend, California also experienced one of its hottest days in recent memory, with temperatures reaching 49 degrees Celsius.
in a post online, the state department of forestry and fire protection said that with the dry conditions and climate critical for fires, it doesn’t take much to start a wildfire.
“Those responsible for starting fires due to negligence or illegal activity can be held financially and criminally liable,” the department stated.
Marcio José Sánchez / AP
Firefighter Ricardo Gomez, from a San Benito Monterey Cal Fire team, lights a controlled burn with a drip torch while fighting the Creek Fire.
It’s not the first time a gender reveal party has made headlines for causing wildfires and even deaths.
In 2018, a shot aimed at a colored target sparked a major wildfire in Arizona, forcing 200 people to flee their homes.
While last year, celebrations in Iowa ended in tragedy after a home stall filled with gunpowder and colored gunpowder exploded and killed a 56-year-old woman.
At the time, police said a family had organized a gender reveal ad to post on social media, but had inadvertently created a “tube bomb.” Metal debris from the blast hit the woman on the head and killed her instantly.
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