MOSCOW, Idaho — Four University of Idaho students were recuperating in a hospital Friday after an explosion in a school parking lot where they had gathered to test a fuel system for an experimental rocket.
The device exploded after the fuel was ignited just before 10 p.m. Thursday at the lot outside the northern Idaho university’s steam plant.
A faculty adviser to the Northwest Organization of Rocket Engineers club was with the students, university spokeswoman Jodi Walker said. He was not injured.
Gritman Medical Center spokesman Eric Hollenbeck said Friday the four students were in good condition.
The school said the students, whose names weren’t released, were alert and communicating with university officials Friday morning. Vice President Daniel Ewart said the students underwent surgery.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is investigating the incident, but it is not a criminal investigation, Moscow Police Chief James Fry said.
Club members did not intend to launch the experimental rocket, Ewart said.
Grant Thurman, a student and member of the Northwest Organization of Rocket Engineers, said the club was attempting to test the rocket fuel, but when one of the club’s co-presidents ignited the fuel, it exploded.
“We were testing a new fuel design for the rocket engine and we didn’t have reason to believe it would blow up or anything because it was a slow-burning fuel,” Thurman said. “But as soon as it was lit, it blew up.”
