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A planned law enforcement explosion went awry and blew a huge crater in the ground in Box Elder County last week, police said.
No one was hurt and nothing was damaged in the explosion, which happened as hazardous materials teams destroyed a large amount of model rocket fuel discovered last month, said Box Elder County Chief Sheriff's Deputy Kevin Potter.
An Ogden owner of a model rocket business stored the fuel along with other chemicals in hundreds of thousands of barrels, paint cans, and other containers in seven self-storage bays in Perry and South Willard, Potter said. A family friend reported them after the man's wife asked him to clear out the units.
After finding the propellant, deputies picked a spot on Perry city property near the sewer lagoon to destroy the more dangerous chemicals. On Nov. 3, they put the rocket fuel inside a 6-foot trench along with explosives designed to destroy it.
But on the fifth batch, something went wrong.
"It actually made the explosion bigger," Potter said. The explosion was two or three times the size intended, and created a crater about 20 feet deep and 30 feet wide.
"You could drive a car right into it. It was a pretty big deal," Potter said. Explosive chemicals can become more volatile as they age, said Perry Mayor Jerry Nelson. The spot is about a mile from the nearest home, on the west side of Interstate 15.
