Companies that sold gender-reveal fireworks which ignited California wildfire agree to $4m settlement

El Dorado blaze that burned 22,744 acres and claimed the life of a firefighter was ignited by an illegal device Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email Nearly six years after a couple’s gender-reveal stunt sparked a deadly wildfire in southern California, the companies that sold the pyrotechnic device have agreed to a multimillion-dollar settlement. The Hubbard, Ohio-based Wholesale Fireworks Corp and its subsidiary American Fireworks Wholesale LLC have agreed to pay more than $4m, the US attorney’s office in the central district of California announced on Tuesday. A third company, the Miami-based Pink or Blue Gender Team Inc, agreed to pay $50,000. The payments resolve civil claims brought on behalf of the US Forest Service after the so-called El Dorado fire, which incinerated 22,744 acres (9,204 hectares) and wiped out nine structures and more than a dozen outbuildings. Forest Service estimates of the damage totaled more than $41m. Charles Morton, 39, a veteran Forest Service firefighter, died 12 days into the blaze while fighting the fire that had spread to the San Bernardino national forest. The settlement caps a legal saga that included a criminal case against the co