Footage of a gender reveal party that sparked an Arizona wildfire that spread into the Coronado National Forest and caused $8 million in damages was released by the U.S. Forest Service on Monday.
The video, filmed by one of the attendees at the party in April of 2017, shows a target set up on dry grassland that promised to reveal the gender of the newborn as a boy or a girl. After a gunshot rings out, the target explodes in a burst of flame and blue smoke (it's a boy!), with the resulting flames spreading to the surrounding grassland. The blaze spread quickly, eventually charring about 47,000 acres in Southern Arizona.
Over 100 people were forced to flee their homes as the blaze with more than 800 firefighters and crews working to contain the wildfire that burned over the course of a week.
U.S. Border Patrol agent Dennis Dickey, 37, of Tucson, and father of the newborn, pleaded guilty to starting the wildfire back in September, according to the U.S. Attorney's office in Arizona. As part of his plea agreement, he agreed to five years' probation and to pay restitution totalling more than $8.1 million. Dickey agreed to make an initial $100,000 payment, and monthly payments thereafter.
The gender reveal target was set up by Dickey using Tannerite, an explosive substance that caused the fire. Dickey immediately reported the fire to authorities the U.S. Attorney's office said in a press release.