--- title: Guy Whose Gender Reveal Party Started Wildfire Will Pay Fine description: The proud dad accidentally set off a 47,000 acre wildfire in Arizona with his explosive antics — and will now pay a $220,000 fine. canonical: https://time.com/5411530/gender-reveal-wildfire/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-10-01T15:46:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:55:11.380Z og:title: Guy Whose Gender Reveal Party Started Wildfire Will Pay Fine og:description: The proud dad will be paying a $220,000 fine after sparking a 47,000 acre fire og:url: https://time.com/5411530/gender-reveal-wildfire/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd8cbad171187b65d/69893b89e76ad21d4b63322b/gender-reveal-wildfire.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Massive Arizona Wildfire Spreads, Threatening Nearby Towns og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Guy Whose Gender Reveal Party Started Wildfire Will Pay Fine twitter:description: The proud dad will be paying a $220,000 fine after sparking a 47,000 acre fire twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd8cbad171187b65d/69893b89e76ad21d4b63322b/gender-reveal-wildfire.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'It Was a Complete Accident.' Guy Whose Gender Reveal Party Started a Wildfire Will Pay Large Fine  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Oct 1, 2018 3:46 PM UTC  A firefighter watches flames grow after setting a backburn on Highway 191 in an attempt to control a raging wildfire on June 10, 2011 in Nutrioso, Arizona. A firefighter watches flames grow after setting a backburn on Highway 191 in an attempt to control a raging wildfire on June 10, 2011 in Nutrioso, Arizona.Kevork Djansezian—Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Oct 1, 2018 3:46 PM UTC Building a family can be an exciting prospect. But maybe it’s time to tone down the [gender reveal parties](http://time.com/5217312/louisiana-couple-alligator-gender-reveal/) — at least when it comes to the use of actual explosives to celebrate a new baby. That’s the lesson learned by one Arizona couple [who will be fined](https://tucson.com/news/local/border-agent-to-pay-k-for-tucson-area-wildfire-sparked/article%5F77b07742-c343-11e8-a6c7-9b739a2ac90b.html) $220,000 after the husband’s misguided use of an explosive substance lit a 47,000-acre wildfire back in 2017, requiring nearly 800 firefighters to tame the flames and costing the government about $8.2 million, as the [_Arizona Daily Star_ reports.](https://tucson.com/news/local/border-agent-to-pay-k-for-tucson-area-wildfire-sparked/article%5F77b07742-c343-11e8-a6c7-9b739a2ac90b.html) “It was a complete accident,” the man behind the scheme, Border Patrol agent Dennis Dickey, told a judge last week. “I feel absolutely horrible about it. It was probably one of the worst days of my life.” Dickey pled guilty last week to a federal misdemeanor charge for causing the fire, dubbed the Sawmill Fire. (It was not ruled as arson, because it was not a “willful act.”) Gender reveal parties have been developing into more and [more outlandish stunts](http://time.com/3817158/mom-freaks-out-gender-reveal/) over the years, as couples surprise guests with the news of the expected baby’s gender. In this case, Dickey shot his rifle at a target that contained colored powder to indicate the gender. The explosive substance was Tannerite, a legal compound, that ignited after being shot. (News reports [have not determined](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/10/01/a-border-patrol-agent-threw-a-gender-reveal-party-he-ended-up-starting-a-47000-acre-wildfire/?noredirect=on&utm%5Fterm=.094c6fe395a4) the ultimate gender of the baby.) Unfortunately for Dickey, strong winds and fire-friendly conditions turned his family’s big day into a costly affair. He’ll be paying his fine in installments for the next 20 years, and will spend the next five on probation. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5411530/gender-reveal-wildfire/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5411530/gender-reveal-wildfire/"},"headline":"'It Was a Complete Accident.' Guy Whose Gender Reveal Party Started a Wildfire Will Pay Large Fine","datePublished":"2018-10-01T15:46:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:55:11.380Z","description":"\"It was a complete accident\"","url":"https://time.com/5411530/gender-reveal-wildfire/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Crime","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd8cbad171187b65d/69893b89e76ad21d4b63322b/gender-reveal-wildfire.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd8cbad171187b65d/69893b89e76ad21d4b63322b/gender-reveal-wildfire.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Massive Arizona Wildfire Spreads, Threatening Nearby Towns","caption":"Massive Arizona Wildfire Spreads, Threatening Nearby Towns","creditText":"Kevork Djansezian—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5411530/gender-reveal-wildfire/","name":"'It Was a Complete Accident.' Guy Whose Gender Reveal Party Started a Wildfire Will Pay Large Fine"}}]}] ```