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Video Released Of The Gender Reveal Party That Went Wrong, Causing Massive Wildfire

Video Released Of The Gender Reveal Party That Went Wrong, Causing Massive Wildfire

The US Forest Service has released the video showing the moment the fire began

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

Remember the gender reveal party that went horrifically wrong and ended up causing a massive 47,000-acre wildfire that cost $8 million (£6.2m) to deal with? Well, the US Forest Service has now released footage from the scene. Oh, and in case you're wondering, it's a boy. So, congratulations, I guess?


The fire was started after happy, expectant dad Dennis Dickey and his wife gathered some pals and headed to the Coronado National Forest, Arizona, to find out the gender of their unborn baby.

As part of their reveal celebrations, Dickey was to shoot at a target that was filled with powder, which would either burst and show blue (for a boy) or pink (for a girl) - sounds straightforward enough, doesn't it? Except added to the powder was a substance called Tannerite, which is legal, but as we can all now see, is also very explosive.

As sparks flew from the target, the dry grass quickly caught aflame and before any knew what was happening, the whole area was alight.

The incident, which happened in April 2017, resulted in 800 firefighters being called as the fire burned for almost two weeks.

In the clip, as the grass catches fire, a man can be heart shouting: "Start packing up."

According to court documents, Dickey "immediately reported the fire to law enforcement, cooperated and admitted that he started the fire."

Speaking in court, he told the judge: "It was a complete accident. I feel absolutely horrible about it. It was probably one of the worst days of my life."

The fire burned for almost two weeks.
US Forest Service

Dickey, a border patrol agent, pleaded guilty to starting the fire and, according to a statement, agreed to pay restitution totalling $8,188,069. He was also handed five years probation and told he would have to make a public service announcement with the US Forest Service about the blaze, which was given the name the 'Sawmill fire'.

In part, the statement reads: "Dickey agreed to pay restitution totalling $8,188,069. Dickey also agreed to make an initial payment of $100,000 toward the restitution judgement and monthly payments thereafter."

Following the court case, local news outlet the Arizona Daily Star submitted a Freedom of Information request to find out the gender of the baby, which, until now, hadn't been revealed to the public.

Featured Image Credit: US Forest Service

Topics: US News