Border Patrol Agent Ordered to Pay $220K After Starting 47,000 Acre Wildfire at Gender Reveal Party

An off-duty Border Patrol agent was 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. The Arizona Daily Star reports 37-year-old Dennis Dickey pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge of “causing a fire without a permit” after he caused the April 2017 Sawmill Fire in Arizona. Dickey reportedly shot a target containing Tannerite, an “explosive substance designed to detonate when shot by a high-velocity firearm,” and colored powder that would reveal the baby’s gender at the party. Tannerite has reportedly been linked to past wildfires. According to his lawyer, Dickey immediately called law enforcement and admitted he started the blaze—but 40 mph winds that day caused the fire to rapidly spread. Almost 800 firefighters worked to stop the fire over about a week, which cost the state around $8.2 million. No injuries were reported, and no buildings were destroyed. Since Dickey was only charged with a misdemeanor, the newspaper reports that he will likely keep his job. “It was a complete accident,” Dickey told U.S. Magistrate Judge Leslie A. Bowman in court. “I feel absolutely horrible about it. It was probably one of the worst days of my life.”