Another Gender Reveal Explosion Led To Another Wildfire

Another gender reveal party went off the rails last week when the explosive device used at the party ended up causing a fire

By Doug Norrie | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

gender reveal

The gender reveal is still a thing for some reason and they continue to cause issues from time to time in the local environment when the goal of exploding something in either pink or blue actually causes, well, a fire. That was the case recently in Canada where a gender reveal explosion ended up starting a small wildfire that needed the assistance of local authorities to put out. City News Everywhere has it that the pink or blue explosion set off a wildfire the size of a football field in Alberta, Canada. 

The gender reveal party was set to explode a pre-planned device that was going to let everyone know if the couple was going to have a boy or a girl. When it was triggered and exploded the sparks ended up setting the ground brush aflame and fire quickly grew out of control. Apparently, multiple firefighting crews, as well as a group of wildfire experts, were needed to ultimately put it out. There’s some sense that they got lucky in that the fire ended up not completely breaking containment. 

The couple who planned the gender reveal party was charged a $600 fine per the local statutes around explosive devices and fireworks, the category this type of device falls under. The fines for fires like this spreading can be much heftier depending on the overall size and the number of professionals it takes to put them out. If it feels like we are trending into the “not worth it” category to explode a small grenade of blue or pink powder, you aren’t alone. 

Of course, in the sense that this could have been much, much worse if not handled properly, there are other examples of gender reveal explosions going way, way wrong. Some are truly tragic, stemming from the need to consistently go bigger and more extravagant with how the gender is revealed. There was a plane crash that killed two, a woman who was struck with debris from an explosive device, and other examples of just very stupid injuries related to high-velocity firearms being used to set off the reveal. 

But in terms of fires, these have also been an issue when it comes to people wanting to get in on a gender reveal. Back in September, the El Dorado fire in Northern California was started from a gender reveal party using a pyrotechnic device. When it was all said and done, the fire had killed 25 people and burned more than 13,000 acres

And there was also the Sawmill Fire in Arizona. This was also caused by a gender reveal party and ended up burning more than 47,000 acres and costing more than $8 million to actually put out. All because of needing to see blue or pink explode in some grandiose fashion. One can hope that we’ve seen the last of these things, especially on the scale that can cause actual injury or massive damage to the landscape. Sure, is it cute to have a little fun around whether you’re getting a boy or girl? I can see it. But let’s just dial down the huge, unsanctioned fireworks shows that lead to massive destruction? I don’t think that’s too heavy a lift.