And you thought you were having a bad day…

In the latest instance of some poor sucker screwing himself over, UK artist Viktor Riedly has been sent to prison after setting a mile-long wildfire in Marsden Moor, near West Yorkshire. The fire started after old mate, who’s apparently a 3D artist, was tinkering with a gadget he’d created to set off fireworks remotely, all to impress his girlfriend.

Naturally, things didn’t go according to plan, with the fire quickly spreading across 285 hectares of the Moor and going so far as torching the surrounding habitat and wildlife. Just reading that it might not seem like a big deal, but it took three days for the 100-plus firefighters on the scene to put out and caused £500,000 ($946,000 AUD) worth of damage.

Of course, the presiding judge was just a bit pissed off by the pyrotechnics, immediately slapping old mate with a 12 month prison sentence and stating “It was an act of gross and crass recklessness. This was done for no other reason than to satisfy your curiosity for what you had created. People have to understand that taking risks with such a vital public amenity cannot be tolerated.”

Long story short, the next time you’re running out of tricks to impress a date, don’t be like Viktor; keep the fireworks in your pants. Check out some more images of the carnage below.