Baby's gender reveal party sparked a huge bushfire that took 800 firefighters a WEEK to put out

A gender reveal party went disastrously wrong – sparking a 47,000 acre wildfire that caused a HUGE $8,200,000 worth of damage.

 The baby's father, Border Patrol agent Dennis Dickey, came up with the stunt to announce the gender of his unborn child.

He planned to fire a gun at a target that would explode with either pink or blue powder.

So far, so good. 

However, the 37-year-old had also packed the target with the legal but explosive compound Tannerite, which has been linked to wildfires.

When he fired the rifle, the gunshot ignited the nearby dry grass and flames spread rapidly.  It raged along Arizona’s Highway 83 and forced hundreds of people to flee from their homes.

Luckily there were no injuries and no buildings were destroyed.

But Dickey has pleaded guilty to a charge of causing a fire without a permit. He has agreed to make an initial £100,000 payment and compensation of $8,188,069. (£6,422,000).

The embarrassed new father, who is married to wife Rita, will also have to star in public service videos warning against copycat attempts.

‘I feel absolutely horrible about it’ he said. ‘It was probably one of the worst days of my life.’

In the video released,  Dickey’s target can be seen and the gunshot fired. There is a small puff of coloured smoke, which quickly escalates into fire.

Dickey called police immediately and admitted he had started the devastating wildfire.

Oh and in case you missed it - the couple had a boy!