Gender reveal parties are all the rage these days, but a word to the wise: they can quickly spiral out of control. A man named Dennis Dickey learned this the hard way when a major disaster resulted from what was supposed to be a joyous day.
Photo Credit: Flickr,kgroovy
In April 2017, Dickey and his wife threw a gender reveal party in Arizona’s Coronado National Forest. The father-to-be filled a target with powder that would burst, expelling either a pink or blue substance depending on if the baby is a boy or a girl. Unfortunately, Dickey also added Tannerite, which is highly explosive, to make the reaction extra showy. So when he fired his rifle at the target, sparks flew into the dry brush…and started a massive wildfire.
Dickey tried extinguish the fire, but it quickly burned out of control, so he contacted authorities.
Photo Credit: YouTube
The fire burned 47,000 acres and 800 firefighters were required to put out the blaze. The inferno cost authorities in Arizona more than $8 million.
In the wake of the destruction, Dickey filed a plea agreement that states he will pay $220,000 in restitution and complete 5 years of probation.”It was a complete accident,” Dickey said of the incident. “I feel absolutely horrible about it. It was probably one of the worst days of my life.”
Take a look at this time-lapse video of the blaze.
Maybe next time we can just stick to a blue or pink cake, mmmmkay?
