More than 9,900 fires erupted across the state in 2020 At the end of that record-breaking year, California would see over 4.2 million acres burned or about 4% of its total landmass, according to Cal Fire. “That’s the only reason he was there,” he said. When asked by reporters in July how prosecutors will argue the couple’s actions were responsible for Morton’s death, San Bernardino County District Attorney Anderson said the firefighter was “fighting a fire that was started because of a smoke bomb.” The couple has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Authorities said a smoke bomb set off during the couple’s gender reveal gathering sparked the 2020 fire, which ended up burning more than 22,000 acres. and Angela Renee Jimenez last year on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Morton and 29 arson-related crimes. The findings may also frame how a couple who was charged with starting the El Dorado fire will mount their defense.Ī criminal grand jury indicted Refugio Manuel Jimenez Jr. The reports also acknowledge “reoccurring themes … that influenced the conditions leading to the death” of Morton, such as a lack of resources on the fire and a policy of aggressive firefighting that, along with climate change, will likely lead to larger and deadlier wildfires in the future. Forest Service released three reports last week that - for the first time - detail the events preceding Morton’s death and his final, frantic words over a radio saying he was “in a corner.” “It was good until it wasn’t,” one firefighter recalled.Īt the end of the night, Charles Morton, an experienced squad boss from the Big Bear crew, would be dead, overcome by flames after he went by himself to scout spot fires. The firing operation appeared to be “going well,” according to a federal report. Forest Service crew, spread out that evening and began burning from opposite directions. Firefighters from a San Bernardino County crew and the Big Bear Hotshots, a U.S. The intentionally-set blazes would hopefully thin out the fuel in advance of the main fire and stop its northwestern spread. 17, 2020, the El Dorado Fire - which had been burning in the San Bernardino National Forest for almost two weeks and proving difficult to extinguish - threatened the mountain community of Angelus Oaks and the Big Bear Lake area.įirefighters were to create a fire break to protect homes by starting their own backfires off a stretch of line cleared by a bulldozer. Watch Video: Video: El Dorado Fire burns a ridge above the community of Oak Glen
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