Burn

By: Ayden Greene

Edited by: Aiesha Patel

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Last November, United States Border Patrol agent Dennis Dickey aimed his rifle at a target labelled “boy or girl” and fired. The bullet was meant to hit an explosive substance, portaying either blue or pink smoke in order to reveal the biological sex of his soon to be baby. Soon, though, all he could see was red and orange. The blast caught brush, sparking a fire that spread to more than 18,000 acres of Arizona state land and took more than a week to drown. Dickey burned through more than just forest. As he pays back part of the state’s $8-million price tag, his retirement savings have also gone up in flames.