Second gender reveal explosion in two days attracts police and fire departments and straight people really need to stop
Plumes of pink smoke spread across a field in a promotional video of the Tannerite gender reveal boom box kit. (Screen capture via YouTube)
Another gender reveal party has ended with an explosion that shook homes more than two miles away in Iowa, US, just one day after a woman lost her life to one.
Local authorities said the party took place on Sunday, just outside the Waukee city limits in a vacant loft in rural Dallas County, reported local station KCCI.
Nobody was hurt by the ensuing discharge, caused after the property owner used a Tannerite gender reveal boom box kit, said Waukee Fire Department captain, Tommie Tysdal.
But the blast was apparently louder than neighbours were prepared for, leading to locals scrambling to check their loves ones were safe and both police and fire departments being called to the scene.
The kit, labelled by manufacturers as the ‘best baby gender reveal ever’, involves parents-to-be firing a rifle at an explosive powder-filled tub which bursts in a blast of blue or pink.
Gender reveal explosion was perfectly ‘legal’, police clarify.
In the 32,000 block of Ute Avenue at around 5:30pm, about 20 people gathered outside an outbuilding in the vacant property for a gender reveal party, a news release form city officials stated.
The group had alerted neighbours nearby about the imminent explosion, but it was louder than intended.
A second gender reveal party took place in a property in rural Dallas County, Iowa. (PinkNews)
“Upon arrival, personnel spoke to the owners of the property and confirmed that there was an explosion as a result of a gender reveal announcement,” the release stated.
“A commercially available gender reveal kit was found to be the cause of the explosion.”
Tysdal added that the boom box was properly used and no charges will be filed as a result since the explosion occurred outside the city limits.
“They shot it with a rifle, which is legal,” Tysdal said. “They are in the county, they are not in the city limits of Waukee, [so] as far as we know its legal.”
“This is just a reminder that you should never ever make your own explosives, and if you are using one of these commercial devices, follow all manufacturers’ instructions and take every safety precaution necessary.”
Terrified locals tussled to check safety of loves ones after explosion.
“I ran out the back trying to figure it out,” Waukee resident John Volk said, describing how locals spilled out to check loved ones and properties were OK after the blast.
“I looked at my neighbour’s yard. Everyone behind me looked like they were intact.”
“My wife and I just stared at each other, and she was like, ‘What was that?'” Waukee resident Kelsey Melone said.
“I thought it was something in the basement, looked in the basement, checked upstairs, checked the garage.”
A window to a property was reportedly damaged.
Family improvised an explosive device for gender reveal party.
The incident on Sunday came just a day after a 56-year-old woman lost her life to a gender reveal party gone awry.
Knoxville authorities said that a family got together for a “happy event” and in effect jimmy-rigged a “pipe bomb”. The resulting explosion sent metal shards shooting out in all directions.
One shard shot into the unborn baby’s grandmother, who was standing 45 feet away according to detectives, killing her instantly.
While some expectant families have revealed the genders of their children with hippos and balloons, use of explosive devices is overall rather rare in the straight community.
But another similar incident did occur in 2017, when acres of land were set aflame in Arizona by a gender reveal party explosion.
