Firefighter dies in blaze sparked by gender reveal
JUNIPER HILLS, Los Angeles County — The death of a firefighter on the lines of a wildfire east of Los Angeles was under investigation Friday as another blaze to the north burned homes in a small community on the edge of the Mojave Desert.
The death occurred Thursday in San Bernardino National Forest as crews battled the El Dorado Fire about 75 miles east of Los Angeles, the U.S. Forest Service said in a statement.
The fire erupted earlier this month from a smokegenerating pyrotechnic device used by a couple to reveal their baby’s gender, Cal Fire said. The name of the firefighter was being withheld until family members are notified.
“Our deepest sympathies are with the family, friends and fellow firefighters during this time,” Forest Service spokesperson Zach Behrens said in the statement.
No other information was released about the firefighter, the agency the firefighter worked for, or the circumstances of the death. The firefighter’s body was escorted down the mountain in a procession of firstresponder vehicles.
A Cal Fire statement said it was the 26th death involving wildfires besieging the state.
Authorities have not released the identities of the couple, who could face criminal charges and be held liable for the cost of fighting the fire.
“If investigative reports are filed with our office, we will review all facts, evidence, statements, and reports to determine what criminal charges, if any, need to be filed,“said San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson.
More than 18,500 firefighters were battling more than two dozen major wildfires in California on Friday as a cold front moving through the western states was causing gusty winds.
In northern Los Angeles County, winds were gusting at more than 30 mph as the Bobcat Fire moved into the community of Juniper Hills and threatened nearby Paradise Springs after burning all the way across the San Gabriel Mountains to the desert. After burning for nearly two weeks, the blaze was advancing on several fronts and putting up an enormous plume of smoke.
“We have aircraft, crews and equipment doing everything they can to slow the spread,” Angeles National Forest tweeted.
Wyatt Stephenson helped his friend evacuate his home at the top of Juniper Hills.
“We found out later that his house burned,” Stephenson said. “The fire just burned everything.”
It wasn’t immediately clear how many homes were burned.
On the south side of the fire, firefighters continued to protect Mount Wilson, which overlooks greater Los Angeles and has a historic observatory founded more than a century ago and numerous broadcast antennas serving Southern California.