Overview
- A pyrotechnic smoke device set off at a gender‑reveal party on Sept. 5, 2020, ignited dry grass in El Dorado Ranch Park and grew into the El Dorado Fire that burned about 22,744 acres and killed U.S. Forest Service firefighter Charles Morton.
- The Department of Justice sued three companies in September 2023 to recover Forest Service suppression and land‑restoration costs and announced settlements in early June 2026 that resolve those federal civil claims.
- Wholesale Fireworks Corp. and its subsidiary American Fireworks Wholesale agreed to pay $4 million to the United States to settle the government’s claims.
- Coverage differs on the payment by Pink or Blue Gender Team Inc., with some reports saying the company will pay $500,000 and others saying $50,000, a discrepancy not resolved in the sampled accounts.
- Prosecutors said the companies failed to safely design and label the smoke bombs and sold them into California where the devices are illegal, and the earlier criminal case against the couple who staged the reveal ended in 2024 guilty pleas and ordered restitution.