We Now Have The Video From When A Gender-Reveal Party Started A Massive Wildfire And It's Insane

On the upside, we finally know the gender of the baby...😬

We finally know the gender of the baby at the center of what was arguably one of the worst reveal parties of all time.

The US Forest Service released a video Monday showing the exact moment when Border Patrol agent Dennis Dickey and his wife found out the gender of their baby and simultaneously started a large wildfire that tore through Arizona's parched grasslands, forcing residents from their homes and costing the state millions of dollars.

In September, Dickey, the dad-to-be, pleaded guilty to accidentally starting the Sawmill fire that torched 47,000 acres of grasslands. Ultimately, 800 firefighters were required to extinguish the blaze, at a cost of $8 million.

The 49-second video, taken on a windy spring day in April 2017, shows a lone black target with the words "Boy" and "Girl" flanking a purple-checkered target. The parents' chosen setting was the middle of an open, sand-colored field in the Coronado National Forest, near Green Valley, Arizona.

Seconds after the video begins, a massive boom is heard, followed by a huge, blue-powdered explosion, which quickly transforms into a fire.

"Start packing up," a man yells twice in the video as the flames dance and leap, quickly blackening the field. Blacked-out figures frantically dart back and forth into the frame.

For the big moment, Dickey had filled the target with powder that would burst either pink or blue. He had also added Tannerite, a highly explosive but perfectly legal substance, officials said; when he fired his rifle, the blast sent sparks into the state's dry brush and ignited the blaze.

View this video on YouTube

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Ultimately, the Sawmill fire burned for nearly two weeks and though no buildings were destroyed, the blaze drove dozens of people from their homes and caused more than $8 million in damage, the US attorney’s office said in a news release.

In his plea agreement, Dickey agreed to pay $220,000 in restitution, handing over $100,000 when he is sentenced on Oct. 9 and then the rest in $500 monthly installments over the next 20 years, the Justice Department said. It's unclear whether the agent will ultimately have to repay the full $8,188,069.

Dickey was also sentenced to five years of probation and agreed to take part in a public service announcement for the Forest Service.

"It was a complete accident," Dickey told the judge in federal court, the Arizona Daily Star reported. "I feel absolutely horrible about it. It was probably one of the worst days of my life."

Dickey's attorney, Sean Chapman, said his client had "accepted the fact that he made a huge mistake" and is "committed to paying roughly 240,000 in restitution to the government over the next 20 years."

"He is not a wealthy man so this is a huge financial burden for him," Chapman said in an emailed statement. "I hope that people will remember when assessing his conduct that he immediately called 911 when the fire started, cooperated with authorities and accepted responsibility for his actions from day one."

Up until now, the gender of the baby that started it all had remained a mystery. But thanks to the Star, which submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for the footage, we can conclude that it was a boy.


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