Fire party: an American border guard burned 18 thousand hectares of forest in honor of a family holiday

When a man rejoices at the upcoming birth of his first child, his jubilation can turn into something grandiose. This happened to an American border guard who decided to "anneal", and as a result of a family holiday, a huge forest burned down. The father of the family will pay for it for another twenty years.

Source: Tucson.com

Dennis Dickey, a 37-year-old employee of the US Border Guard Service, decided to arrange a holiday dedicated to the announcement of the sex of his unborn child and really wanted the celebration to be remembered by family and friends. Resourceful Dennis could not think of anything better than to arrange a pyrotechnic show on a picnic area right in the woods. The extravaganza was supposed to take place and it took place!

As a result of the fiery performance, which lasted for a week, 18,000 hectares of forest burned, including part of the Arizona Coronado National Forest. Despite the fact that Dickie immediately called firefighters, it was not possible to stop the fire quickly, as there was windy and very dry weather in Arizona, which contributed to the spread of the fire.

The fire started by Dennis Dickey

The fire, which occurred in April 2017, was remembered for a long time by the staff of the emergency services of the state. More than 800 firefighters, special equipment and even aviation took part in the elimination of the consequences of the family holiday. According to preliminary estimates, the state of Arizona suffered losses of $ 8.2 million and only due to the remoteness of the fire from densely populated areas, neither people nor their property were affected.

It was not immediately possible to establish that Dickie's family holiday was to blame for everything, but only a few days after the fire started. On September 28, 2018, the court hearings in the case of the hapless border patrol officer ended, and the judge announced the verdict.

Dennis Dickey, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter arson, was sentenced to a fine of $ 220,000, of which less than half should be paid immediately. The remaining amount, divided into payments of $ 500, the culprit of the grandiose forest fire will pay for another 20 years. Dennis sincerely repented of his irresponsible act and talks about the day of the arson as the most unpleasant in his life.