How a gender reveal party caused a huge wildfire that cost Arizona $8.2m

We've heard of parties getting out of hand but this is ridiculous.

A gender reveal party that took place in Arizona has been found to have caused the Sawmill Fire in April 2017 that cost the state £8.2 million.

According to The Daily Beast, Dennis Dickey, an off-duty border patrol agent used something called Tannerite "explosive substance designed to detonate when shot by a high-velocity firearm" to shoot a coloured powder at a target which revealed him and his wife's baby's gender.

However, it didn't go according to plan and the explosive wound up causing a blaze which rapidly spread thanks to 40mph winds and started a wildfire.

Dickey is reported to have immediately called the authorities but they couldn't stop the fire, which burnt for over a week and took over 800 firefighters to stop.

In court, Dickey pleaded guilty to "causing a fire without a permit" and was fined $220,000. Luckily for him, the fire caused no injuries and there was no damage caused to any buildings.

During his court appearance, Dickey said:

It was a complete accident.

I feel absolutely horrible about it. It was probably one of the worst days of my life.

Tannerite has been linked to wildfires before so maybe, y'know, people should stop using them.

Also, if you are going to have a gender reveal party, maybe you should use Bill Murray as this couple did.

HT Elle

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