--- description: An off-duty U.S. Border Patrol Agent started a massive Arizona fire by shooting at an explosive target in April 2017. title: Border Patrol Agent Sparks Wildfire During Gender Reveal Party image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9e4599dfcba29162/69893ff5656a3fa214bd6130/gettyimages-862456780.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Crime](/tag/crime/) ## Crime Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A Border Patrol Agent Sparked a 45,000 Acre Wildfire During a Gender Reveal Party  by [Ciara Nugent](/author/ciara-nugent/)  ## Ciara Nugent Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 27, 2018 2:55 PM CUT  Forest fire in Ourense, Galiza, north Spain. Forest fire in Ourense, Galiza, north Spain.Brais Seara/Getty Images  by [Ciara Nugent](/author/ciara-nugent/)  ## Ciara Nugent Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 27, 2018 2:55 PM CUT The U.S. Forest Service has released [video footage](https://www.youtube.com/watch?time%5Fcontinue=26&v=BnvJLeYedgI "undefined") of the moment an off-duty Border Patrol agent started Arizona’s April 2017 Sawmill Fire by shooting at an explosive target. Agent Dennis Dickey was taking part in a gender reveal party for his baby when he shot at the box-like target, which read “BOY GIRL” and was rigged to release colored smoke indicating the child’s gender. In the video, which was taken by a party attendee and later released to [_The Arizona Daily Star_](https://eu.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-breaking/2018/11/26/sawmill-fire-explosion-caught-camera-during-gender-reveal-party/2121802002/ "undefined"), the sound of a gunshot is heard before the target explodes. Blue smoke can briefly be seen billowing up before flames spread onto the surrounding shrubby grass. Dickey in September [pleaded guilty to a federal misdemeanor charge for causing the fire](http://time.com/5411530/gender-reveal-wildfire/ "undefined"), which ripped through 45,000 acres of public and private land and caused $8 million worth of damage. “I feel absolutely horrible about it. It was probably one of the worst days of my life,” he said at the time. He agreed to pay a total of $8.1 million in restitution, starting with an initial payment of $100,000\. He will also spend five years on probation. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5464363/border-patrol-wildfire-gender-reveal/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5464363/border-patrol-wildfire-gender-reveal/"},"headline":"A Border Patrol Agent Sparked a 45,000 Acre Wildfire During a Gender Reveal Party","datePublished":"2018-11-27T14:55:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T22:08:11.433Z","description":"After an accident involving an exploding target","url":"https://time.com/5464363/border-patrol-wildfire-gender-reveal/","keywords":["Crime","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9e4599dfcba29162/69893ff5656a3fa214bd6130/gettyimages-862456780.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ciara Nugent","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ciara-nugent/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9e4599dfcba29162/69893ff5656a3fa214bd6130/gettyimages-862456780.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"firestockimage","caption":"fire","creditText":"Brais Seara/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":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/crime/","name":"Crime"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5464363/border-patrol-wildfire-gender-reveal/","name":"A Border Patrol Agent Sparked a 45,000 Acre Wildfire During a Gender Reveal Party"}}]}] ```