Officials: Gender-Reveal Party Sparked CA Wildfire
By Jason Henry and Brian Rokos
Source San Bernardino County Sun, Calif.
More than 20,000 people were evacuated due to the El Dorado fire, a 8,600-acre blaze ignited by a gender reveal stunt at El Dorado Ranch Park in Yucaipa, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said on Monday, Sept. 7, the third day of the blaze.
The fire rapidly doubled in size to 7,050 acres Sunday, Sept. 6, then briefly slowed down overnight before picking up again about 3:30 a.m. It jumped to 8,600 acres by noon Monday, causing evacuation orders to spread into Riverside County.
The 619 firefighters working the blaze managed to reach 7% containment as of Monday, Sept. 7. Containment does not mean how much of a fire has been put out. Rather, it represents a border firefighters have created around the perimeter of a blaze to keep it from spreading. That means a border has been created around 7% of the El Dorado Fire.
Investigators determined a smoke-generating pyrotechnic device at a gender reveal photo shoot Saturday morning started the fire. Initially described as a party, a Cal Fire spokesperson later said the photo shoot only involved immediate family members. During the shoot, a small cylindrical device that burns chemicals to produce colored smoke ignited the grass, according to Bennet Milloy, a captain specialist with Cal Fire.
Cal Fire has yet to determine if the device qualifies as a “safe and sane” firework under California law, but such fireworks are not legal in Yucaipa regardless, Milloy said. The individual responsible for lighting the device has not been arrested at this time. Investigators will send a report to the district attorney’s office and charges will be filed at a later date, Milloy said.
There have been no reported injuries at this time, he said.
The weather and the topography make it hard to predict how the fire might move, he said.
Firefighting aircraft assisted crews on the ground, though officials warned Monday afternoon that heavy winds could ground those efforts. Firefighters worried the winds could also create a fire plume buildup, according to the San Bernardino National Forest.
While temperatures cooled Monday, an excessive heat warning remained in effect until 8 p.m. A Fire Weather Watch will take its place Tuesday and Wednesday. There’s a possibility of Santa Ana conditions later in the week.
Mandatory evacuation orders were in place for residents in the following area as of Monday afternoon: east of Bryant Street from Carter Street south to Yucaipa Boulevard, then east on Yucaipa from Bryant intersection to Freemont Street, then south to Grande View Drive, then along Avenue E southeast to the intersection of Mesa Grande, east to Wildwood Canyone Road, including all portions of Hidden Meadows, and east to Edgar Canyon Road.
An evacuation order was also in place in Mountain Home Village and Forest Falls.
Shortly before noon Monday, evacuation orders spread to Riverside County, that county’s Emergency Management Department said. The evacuation orders are for the Cherry Valley area, north of Cherry Street to the county line.
The American Red Cross has set up an evacuation center at the Yucaipa Community Center, 34900 Oak Glen Road. Volunteers are following safety protocols and providing services while maintaining social distancing, according to the Red Cross. Anyone evacuating animals was directed to the Devore Animal Shelter, 19777 Shelter Way in Devore, or Big Bear Animal Shelter at North Shore Drive and Stanfield Cutoff.
The Red Cross said it provided hotel rooms for 53 families — 118 people total — on Sunday night and will continue assessing shelter needs.
With thousands of residents prompted to evacuate, many are finding difficulty locating hotel rooms – particularly if they have pets.
Ricardo Tomboc, a shelter supervisor at the American Red Cross evacuation center at Yucaipa Community Center, estimated Monday that 95% of evacuees had the financial wherewithal to rent hotel rooms themselves or were staying with family or friends.
Tomboc estimated that 50 families were given vouchers Sunday but that others remained on a waiting list. And seeking a hotel that accepts pets “makes it a lot harder,” he said.
That left people such as the Scalf and Myers families sitting in the park, outside in the smoky 90-degree heat, Monday as they waited for word on a room. As with the Apple Fire, the Red Cross was not putting out cots because of concerns about spreading the coronavirus. Snacks and water were available, though. There were about a dozen people inside the center about 2 p.m. Monday and another dozen outside.
The Scalfs, of Mountain Home Village, sat on a picnic bench and prayed over a lunch of In-N-Out burgers. Philip Scalf, 35, asked God to protect the community and firefighters.
“Please let everyone survive,” he prayed.
His family, which includes his wife, Candace, 36; three children; and three dogs and a cat fled Saturday as the flames crested the mountain and a helicopter crew announced mandatory evacuations.
They were prepared with a bag that included clothes, pet food and bath items. Philip Scalf and son Gunnar, 13, also grabbed their skateboards and guitars.
“We’re going to be doing a lot of skating and playing,” Philip Scalf said, anticipating a lengthy evacuation.
This has been a stressful couple of months for the Scalfs and other Mountain Home residents, with voluntary evacuations orders issued during the nearby Apple Fire.
Still, “I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else,” Candace Scalf said. “Once you live on the mountain, you don’t want to move off. We have a strong community and we take care of each other.”
Richard and Winter Myers, and their young son and daughter sat on the concrete just outside the center Monday. They played a card game while their dog lounged nearby. They also hoped for a hotel voucher after evacuating their mountain home when the fire crested the mountain.
“We love it up there but we just wish people were more respectful,” Richard Myers, 42, said. “Because they don’t live here, they don’t have anything to lose. We have everything to lose.”
Both families were disappointed that the fire that rousted them out of their homes was started by people carelessly using a pyrotechnic to mark a baby’s gender reveal at El Dorado Ranch Park on a scorching-hot day next to tinder-dry brush.
“I know those people feel really bad, but they should not have done it,” said Philip Scalf.
About 3 p.m., the Myers family got good news: A hotel room was found for them and they were looking forward to taking baths. The Scalf family and their menagerie were still waiting.
The Southern California Air Quality Management District issued a smoke advisory that ran from Sunday through to Monday afternoon. The forecast indicated winds would send smoke through the San Gorgonio Pass and into the San Jacinto Mountains. Idyllwild, Banning and the Western Coachella Valley.
Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Sunday for San Bernardino County due to the El Dorado Fire. The governor’s proclamation noted that because of the magnitude of fires throughout the state, local governments will require “the combined forces of a mutual aid region or regions to appropriately respond.”
In response to the fires, the U.S. Forest Service announced the closure of a number of its forests, beginning at 5 p.m. Monday and continuing indefinitely until dangerous conditions lessened. A combination of extreme heat, significant wind, dry conditions and overstretched firefighting resources prompted the decision. Rules put in place state-wide also banned campfires and closed developed campgrounds and day-sites.
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