Gender reveal party sparks California wildfire that's grown to 7,000 acres

A wildfire in California that has grown to more than 7,000 acres was started during a gender reveal party, officials say.

The El Dorado Fire in San Bernardino County confirmed that the fire was started by a "smoke generating pyrotechnic device" used during a gender reveal party, Cal Fire said in a news release posted to Instagram.

"Law Enforcement has determined the El Dorado Fire, burning near Oak Glen in San Bernardino County, was caused by a smoke generating pyrotechnic device, used during a gender reveal party. The fire began at 10:23 am on September 5, 2020 in the El Dorado Ranch Park in Yucaipa. The fire spread from the park to the north on to Yucaipa Ridge that separates Mountain Home Village and Forest Falls from the City of Yucaipa." The statement reads.

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The Cal Fire incident website indicates that the fire has since spread to cover 7,050 acres, as of Monday morning.

The communities of Oak Glen, Yucaipa Ridge, Mountain Home Village and Forest Falls have received evacuation orders, CNN reports. Meanwhile, an evacuation warning is in place for the Yucaipa bench area, with the Yucaipa Community Center being used as a temporary evacuation facility.

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According to the Cal Fire website, more than 500 personnel have been deployed to the scene of the blaze, including four helicopters and 60 engines.

The Lieutenant of the Emergency Operations Division at San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department tweeted a video that shows plumes of smoke billowing out of trees.

"Fire is now 7050 acres with 5% containment. Still encroaching on the Oak Glen area & eastern Yucaipa. Evacuation orders extended to everything East of Bryant down to Yucaipa Blvd. Multiple SBSD Stations sending personnel to assist with evacuations." The tweet reads.

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An update on the weather overnight posted to Twitter by the San Bernardino National Forest Twitter account reads:

"Weather will remain dry/hot throughout night w/an elevated temp + relative humidity at 20%. Winds will remain downslope at 3-5 mph w/gusts to 10. This will result in continued active fire behavior throughout the night".

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Per CNN, no charges have yet been announced in the blaze.