College Student Brews Rocket Fuel In Dorm, Displaces Occupants As Mixture Explodes

KEY POINTS

The mixture exploded into a "fireball," causing flames to engulf parts of the kitchen
Fire sprinklers flooded the main floor
The incident caused extensive damage that was estimated to be about $75,000

A college student, who tried to make homemade rocket fuel in his dormitory, displaced nearly two dozen students after the concoction exploded.

The 22-year-old student of Brigham Young University (BYU) had around five pounds of the homemade rocket fuel brewing on his dormitory stove Sunday when the mixture suddenly exploded into a massive “fireball” at around 4:30 p.m., the campus police said. Responders arrived at the dorm to find the fire sprinklers had flooded the dorm, according to the New York Post.

Firefighters from Provo Fire & Rescue joined the police in securing the area and putting out the remaining flames. Kitchen cabinets and the ceiling were also charred from the explosion.

“The subsequent investigation revealed that a resident had been making homemade rocket fuel on the stove when the volatile mixture suddenly exploded into a fireball,” the BYU Police Department wrote on Facebook. “The flames from the explosion had engulfed the walls and ceiling around the stove and the intense heat tripped the fire sprinkler system.”

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Nobody was injured, but about 22 dorm residents were displaced because of the experiment that went terribly wrong. “Please keep your experiments in the lab and supervised by trained professionals,” warned the police department.

The 22 displaced students were relocated while repairs at the dormitory were underway. The cops noted the unidentified student behind the kitchen catastrophe singed some of his arm hair.

“He was close to the ignition and was able to get out of the way as the, it was like a fireball that kind of crept up the wall and up onto the ceiling,” Lt. Jeff Long with BYU Police said, according to KSL 5 TV.

The extensive damage caused by the explosion was estimated to be about $75,000, the fire department said. Although nobody was in serious harm, Long said the situation was no laughing matter.

“It’s very serious when you’re talking life and death and criminal charges and the expense of repairs,” Long told the outlet. “So not something that we definitely want to laugh off.”

Long also does not believe the student had any suspicious or criminal motives behind making homemade rocket fuel in his dorm kitchen.

“It doesn’t look like there was anything nefarious in this,” Long reportedly added. “I think it was just a curiosity thing.”

BYU Police Department put up a follow-up post on Facebook thanking Provo firefighters and also cautioning students about such experiments.

“It is clear that this situation could have been much worse and we are grateful that no one was injured,” the statement read. “We urge students to be aware of circumstances around them and consider how their actions have the potential to effect not just themselves, but others as well.”