Dad’s gender reveal party stunt ends up causing 47,000-acre wildfire

A father to be in the States caused catastrophic damage during a gender reveal party.

The dad decided to shoot at an explosive during the celebrations which led to a 47,000 acre wildfire and incurred over $200,000 worth of fines. The enormous blaze took firefighters almost a week to extinguish.

An off-duty Border Patrol agent was reportedly ordered to pay $220,000 in restitution on Friday after he accidentally started a 47,000-acre wildfire at he and his wife’s gender reveal party https://t.co/RZgLN32l7d

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) September 29, 2018

Parents are going to further lengths to make their gender reveal parties stand out but when Dennis Dickey, an off-duty Border Patrol agent started the fire that spread over thousands of acres of public land, he made his party stand out for the wrong reasons. The goal was to shoot the target, to reveal either pink or blue powder but it ended up causing a devastating fire that cost taxpayers $8.2 million to put out. The target that Dickey shot at contained the explosive Tannerite which has been linked to several wildfires in the past.

Finally, the full story is on the record: An off-duty Border Patrol agent was shooting an exploding target *at a gender reveal party* when he lit the woods on fire south of Tucson last year. https://t.co/2dxPA3qYvO

— Tim Steller (@senyorreporter) September 28, 2018

According to Scary Mommy Dickey is quoted as having said;

“It was a complete accident. I feel absolutely horrible about it. It was probably one of the worst days of my life.”

Dickey recently plead guilty to causing a fire without a permit and he will have to pay $100,000 toward his total in fines on October 9, when he is sentenced, and then continue to make monthly payments of $500 for 20 years. Thankfully no one was harmed in the wildfire.