A very excited couple thought the best way to reveal their child's gender was to do it with fireworks. Well, they did, but the pyrotechnics display was more than they could handle.
Instead of seeing smoke – in cheesy blue (boy) or pink (girl) – from the device that was supposed to "light up" a weekend party, the couple and the guests were treated to a conflagration that razed thousands of acres of land and forced residents to abandon their homes in Southern California.
Officials of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said a smoke-producing fireworks device that was used in the photo-op on Saturday allegedly caused the blaze in El Dorado, one of three huge wildfires that raged through the state over the weekend.
Over 500 firefighters and four helicopters were used to put out the El Dorado inferno east of San Bernardino, which started Saturday morning, Cal Fire said.
The fire has so far destroyed more than 7,000 acres of woodlands. Two other ongoing fires, the Valley Fire and the Creek Fire, have already destroyed 9,850 and 73,278 acres of land, respectively.
As of mid-Monday, the El Dorado blaze, which is only 7 percent contained, has spread to more than 7,386 acres of land, ravaged some structures in Oak Glen, and prompted evacuations of homes, firefighters said.
California has been scorched under extreme heat conditions, with temperatures exploding to a record 121 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday along Woodland Hills, the National Weather Service said. The state has lost over 1.6 million acres of land to wildfires so far this year, including in three of the worst blazes in California's history.
Meanwhile, Cal Fire said the family responsible for sparking the inferno in El Dorado could face charges and a multimillion-dollar fines. In a statement, Cal Fire officials said those accountable for starting fires as a result of "negligence or illegal activity can be held financially and criminally liable."
But Cal Fire spokesperson Bennet Milloy has a harsher penalty in mind: the couple could face a fine that could run into millions of dollars.
