Border Patrol agent Dennis Dickey pleaded guilty on Friday to causing a wildfire in Arizona during a party to reveal his baby’s gender, The Hill reports.
Dickey, 37, admitted to accidentally starting the Sawmill Fire, which caused $8 million worth of damage in April of last year, by shooting a rifle at a target that he had put the explosive substance Tannerite inside, which would burst in a pink or blue color to reveal the gender of his and his wife’s baby. This caused an explosion that led to a fire, which damaged over 45,000 acres of land.
“Dickey immediately reported the fire to law enforcement, cooperated, and admitted that he started the fire,” reads a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tucson, Arizona. “The total losses attributable to the fire, including suppression costs and damage to land and landholdings, totaled more than $8 million.”
Almost 800 firefighters worked for over a week to control the area.
“In his plea agreement, Dickey agreed to a sentence of five years’ probation, and to make a public service announcement with the U.S. Forest Service concerning the cause of the Sawmill fire. Dickey agreed to pay restitution totaling $8,188,069. Dickey also agreed to make an initial payment of $100,000 toward the restitution judgment and monthly payments thereafter.”
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