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Student Making Home-Brewed Rocket Fuel On Stovetop Causes Chaos In Dorm
https://www.iflscience.com ^ | 24 FEBRUARY 2022 | Jack Dunhill

Posted on 02/24/2022 10:00:25 AM PST by Red Badger

If you're looking for a true recipe for disaster, look no further than "homemade" and "rocket fuel". Unfortunately, one student at the Brigham Young University, Utah, thought making his own DIY version of rocket fuel would be a good idea, and it ended about as well as you might expect – large fireball, sprinklers flooding the entire dorm, 22 upset students out of living for a while.

Police and fire crews arrived at the scene on Sunday afternoon after a fire alarm was heard at the student dorms of Heritage Halls. Upon inspection, the building was flooded with water and the remnants of an intense fire still burned. The fire department quickly extinguished and secured the scene.

It was revealed that a student had decided to try his hand at creating DIY rocket fuel on the stovetop.

As expected, rocket fuel is particularly volatile and exploded into a violent fireball as it was on the stove, which quickly engulfed the kitchen and sparked the sprinkler system to douse the fire, writes the BYU police department in a Facebook post.

The sprinkler resulted in the kitchen communal area – which has a toilet on display right in the center for some unknown reason – being entirely flooded. While you might expect the amount of rocket fuel to be relatively small for a home experiment, it was actually quite a substantial amount.

“It wasn’t a small amount — it was a potful,” said BYU Police Lt. Jeff Long, in a statement reported by the Washington Post.

“It really could have been catastrophic.”

It is unclear exactly what type of propellant the student was cooking up, but judging from the blaze it was probably something better kept to a controlled laboratory.

“Fortunately, no one was injured but some dorm residents will be displaced due to the flooding caused by this kitchen chemist incident. Please keep your experiments in the lab and supervised by trained professionals,” the BYU police department wrote in their post.

Residents are now living elsewhere while the mess is cleaned up, and the "rocket man" in question may now face criminal charges and a fine for damages that have equated to at least $100,000 (£73,800).

“It is clear that this situation could have been much worse and we are grateful that no one was injured. 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,” the department wrote in an update on Monday.


TOPICS: Education; Health/Medicine; Humor; Science
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To: PGR88

Maybe.............

21 posted on 02/24/2022 10:18:22 AM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: Red Badger

Buddy of mine blew the door off the over and embedded it in the cabinets on the other side in our apartment during college. He (we) were drying our explosives (sodium chlorate infused paper towel, the quicker picker upper) and we needed it to be completely dehydrated.

Oops, I was in my bedroom and I head the commotion, opened the door and could not see my hand in front of my face the smoke was so think.

Never pulled a battery out of a smoke alarm faster in my life.


22 posted on 02/24/2022 10:21:28 AM PST by Abathar (Proudly posting without reading the article carefully since 2004)
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To: Red Badger
Already posted
23 posted on 02/24/2022 10:22:28 AM PST by GingisK
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To: Red Badger
This is why they make rocket fuel at facilities with a LOT of firefighting capability nearby.
24 posted on 02/24/2022 10:24:44 AM PST by RayChuang88 (FairTax: America's Economic Cure)
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To: Red Badger
At age 15, living at Patrick AFB (now Patrick SFB) I regularly brewed rocket fuel for our launching pad on the sand dunes just South of the Base property. On one occasion, a predictable "event" occurred which triggered a large BOOM and a column of smoke! The Air Police rapidly came to the site..., and we "Chemists" watched the spectacle while in our bathing suits on the beach.... Just one of a few of my nine lives expended....
25 posted on 02/24/2022 10:25:10 AM PST by ExSES (the "bottomhttps://youtu.be/ycrqXJYf1SU-line")
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To: Red Badger

Mostly peaceful (cooking) demonstration. LOL


26 posted on 02/24/2022 11:00:13 AM PST by Honest Nigerian
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To: babygene

I’m here to tell you that a propane torch on the side of the tin can is poor practice.


27 posted on 02/24/2022 11:23:28 AM PST by GingisK
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To: PGR88

If he made it to the melting stage, there would be no other place to pour it that would make sense.


28 posted on 02/24/2022 11:24:45 AM PST by GingisK
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To: Red Badger

I did the same in my mom’s kitchen. I was cooking a mixture of sugar and salt peter on the stove so I could pour the melted caramelized mixture into a small cardboard tube for a rocket fuel test. The burner got too hot and it ignited. Fortunately, it only spewed out a white cloud that had no scent. I opened up the kitchen window and the cloud dispersed before my mom came home from shopping.


29 posted on 02/24/2022 12:14:06 PM PST by jonrick46 (Leftnicks chase illusions of motherships at the end of the pier.)
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To: jonrick46

You’re lucky you didn’t burn the house down................


30 posted on 02/24/2022 12:16:40 PM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: All

years ago, somebody would hire this kid right away...


31 posted on 02/24/2022 12:19:46 PM PST by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.tand http://www.house.gov)
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To: Larry Lucido

Throw in some sulphur and some ground charcoal.
Use confectioners sugar......shhhh


32 posted on 02/24/2022 3:08:22 PM PST by Keyhopper (Indians had bad immigration laws)
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To: Red Badger

Back in the 80s a stupid U. Of Buffalo kid stole a human skull from a nearby cemetery. He was boiling it in the dorm kitchenette to “clean it up.” The foul odor that permeated the floor is how he got caught. He received criminal charges.


33 posted on 02/25/2022 4:19:03 AM PST by ViLaLuz (2 Chronicles 7:14)
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