Gender Reveal Gone Wrong: Explosion Reportedly Starts 10-Acre Fire
It’s almost shocking to be reminded that there are other dangers out there than the virus that’s been dominating the news lately. But surprise, surprise, the world is just as chaotic as it was before the virus came along and stirred the pot even more.
There will still be earthquakes, storms and fires — and as we head into the dryer months of the year, more and more places will be putting their burn bans into effect.
Brevard County, Florida, recently publicized their burn ban, as conditions in the area are perfect for wildfires.
“Unincorporated Brevard County is under a burn ban as of today due to dry conditions,” the Brevard County Fire Rescue Facebook page posted on March 27. “Brevard’s drought index has exceeded 500 which is the trigger point per County ordinance.”
“Wildfires started from careless burning or other activities are labor intensive events that will take available resources away from COVID responses for extended periods of time. Remember, our ambulances and suppression units are cross staffed with paramedics, EMTs, and Firefighters.”
According to WESH, violating the ban could result in jail time and/or a $500 fine. So it makes perfect sense that someone would come along the next day and reportedly set 10 acres ablaze with a poorly conceived celebration.
Brevard County Fire Rescue Chief Mark Schollmeyer told WESH that it all started with an explosive gender reveal.
“We were informed that it was caused by a gender reveal using Tannerite and a weapon,” Schollmeyer said.
Tannerite is a binary explosive that is often used as a rifle target or shot indicator. Some parents-to-be have used Tannerite with colored powders to reveal the gender of their child with a bang.
“Something as seemingly innocent as a gender reveal can turn into a large-scale disaster where homes are threatened,” Schollmeyer continued.
During these troubled times, the damage such an incident causes reaches much further than the immediate danger: It requires valuable resources that could be used to solve other issues.
“Especially during all these potential COVID responses and medical responses it can quickly overwhelm resources and by that I mean, it will leave no resources to respond to those medical calls when needed,” he added.
“We want to prevent those wildfires started carelessly by, let’s say, fireworks, camp fires, open trash and burning, bonfires,” he explained.
“Those kinds of incidents can escalate rapidly. The outdoor equipment utilizing internal combustion like ATVs, lawnmowers and the like, make sure they have a spark arrestor on them.”
While this accident was certainly avoidable, the blaze was contained and extinguished. There’s no word on whether or not the responsible party has been charged yet.
Hopefully next time the parents-to-be will choose a reveal method that is a little less dynamic.
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