Gender-Reveal Party Turns Tragic

A "Gender-Reveal" party turned tragic over the weekend when things got out of hand.

The party was being held in Yucaipa, California, on the edge of the San Bernadino National Forest, east of Los Angeles. As part of the gender reveal, the family planned to use a smoke-generating "grenade", with the smoke to correspond with the gender of the child. That smoke-generating device sparked a fire that quickly spread out of control.

So far, the wildfire that resulted has claimed over 7,000 acres and is 7% contained (according to ABC7). The situation is severe enough for the governor of California to declare a state of emergency for the area.

Let's use this story as a reminder that our first responders are already stretched thin: with a pandemic, hurricane recovery, a heatwave, protests, and other emergencies, we can't afford to be careless.