At 11:15 on Tuesday August 8th, one family’s gender reveal sparked a deadly wildfire, spanning 3 states. The El Dorado wildfire has spread from California all the way to Washington. The most recent source (as of Sunday evening) says that over 15,000 acres of land has been hit by this fire. The death toll has gotten to 33, a large number compared to previous years. In 2019, only 7 people died from all wildfires in California. The El Dorado fire has also caused thousands of people to evacuate for an indefinite amount of time. Currently, firefighters are working constantly to try to gain control over this fire. Many people have used this instance of death and destruction to argue against the concept of gender reveal parties. Besides the pushing of gender norms, they also have caused an online competition between parents, causing them to attempt to do bigger, more extravagant things to try to make them seem like the “superior parent.” This leads to people getting illegal explosives that, while they could have led to a fun picture, had some dire consequences. The wildfire is not under control at this point, and officials are yet to make a prediction of when this could be over. Even places that haven’t burned are having significant issues with visibility and air quality. In some places, breathing has been reported to be like “smoking 20 cigarettes” and pictures have shown a very low visibility, with smoke turning the sky orange over the entire state of California. At this point, the majority of people have evacuated the necessary areas, and everyone is working to control the situation.
Written by Lilia
Artwork by Aurora Brooks
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