New details of the ignition of were revealed Friday, Oct. 28, as attorneys debated a defense motion that asked a Superior Court judge in San Bernardino to dismiss all 30 charges against Refugio Manuel Jimenez Jr., 42, and Angelina Renee Jimenez, 30.
Steven Mitchell, the attorney for Angelina Jimenez, said that although the Jimenezes started the fire with a mishap with a gender-reveal device, they were not negligent as prosecutors contend and could not have foreseen when they lit the fuse at El Dorado Ranch Park in Yucaipa on Sept. 5, 2020, that U.S. Forest Service hotshot Charlie Morton would be overrun by flames 12 days later.
“The fire department, the district attorney and prosecutors are angry and want to hold someone accountable. This is a win-at-all-costs prosecution,” Mitchell told Judge Ronald M. Christianson. “It’s a travesty.”
Deputy District Attorney Lisa Crane countered that the Jimenezes should have known better than to set off the smoky device on a 103-degree day with low humidity in a park containing extremely dry brush.
“It was reckless. It was criminally negligent,” she said.
A grand jury in 2021 returned an indictment against the Jimenezes, charging them with involuntary manslaughter plus seven other felony counts and 22 misdemeanor counts related to the fire, which besides killing Morton burned 22,680 acres, destroyed five homes and damaged four others.
Megan Scafiddi and father Michael Scafiddi, the attorneys for Refugio Jimenez, in arguing that his actions were that of a careful man, offered never-before-reported details of how the fire started:
First, Refugio Jimenez researched the gender-reveal device and believed it was safe. He then tested it successfully at home.
Then he and his wife went to the park, where he placed the smoke stick in a gopher hole — not in the brush nearby — and propped it up with a rock. It was set off without a problem, with no sparks or flames being emitted, and photographs were taken. The Jimenezes then decided to take additional photographs, and the device was set off a second time.
Seconds later, someone noticed the brush was on fire. The Jimenezes, having brought water and a bucket, desperately tried to put out the fire while calling 911.
The attorneys added that when a Cal Fire investigator tried to recreate the fire’s ignition using the same type of gender-reveal device, he was unable to start a fire.
Megan Scafiddi said the blaze might not have killed Morton had there been more fire engines and firefighters on the line to control it more quickly.
Crane countered that the home test was done on a concrete slab and the manufacturer’s instructions on the device warned the user to lay it flat on the ground. She said that the couple brought minimal amounts of water and that the bucket was the size of a toy. And fire investigators classified the device as a firework, which is banned at the park, Crane said.
She added that Morton would not have been on the mountain had the Jimenezes been more careful.
Christianson said he would file a written ruling before the Jimenezes’ next court appearance on Jan. 27. The couple, who are on leave from their jobs as correctional officers at California Institution for Women in Chino, are not in custody.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include additional details involving the testing of the gender-reveal device.
