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BYU student making homemade rocket fuel starts dorm fire

byudormfire.jpeg
Posted at 11:54 AM, Feb 21, 2022
and last updated 2022-02-21 11:54:35-05

PROVO, Utah — A BYU student making rocket fuel inside the kitchen of a campus dormitory started a fire Sunday that caused damage to the building, displacing residents.

University police said they were alerted to the fire at Heritage Halls - Building Four at 4:30 p.m and found the fire sprinklers had been activated and were flooding the floor.

Flames from the fire "had engulfed the walls and ceiling around the stove and the intense heat tripped the fire sprinkler system," the department wrote.

After the fire was put out, an investigation found that the student was making homemade rocket fuel on the kitchen stove when it exploded into a fireball.

No one was injured, but the department said "some dorm residents will be displaced due to the flooding."

"Please keep your experiments in the lab and supervised by trained professionals," warned the police.

This story was originally reportedby Jeff Tavss of sister station KSTU.