'Mythbusters' Blast Shakes Small Town (TV Show Explodes 500 Pounds Of Explosives)

theindychannel.com ^ | 03/26/09 | unknown

[Abathar]

YOLO COUNTY, Calif. -- A big explosion, in the name of science, scared a lot of people in a small California town.

It all began with a test from by the crew of the TV show Mythbusters, but their test produced a bigger bank than they expected.

"It was a boom that was just -- I had never heard anything like that before, it was really wired," Sherril Stephens told TV station KCRA.

The explosion was so big, Stephens said it knocked her off the couch and broke her front window. Nearly the entire town of Esparto, Calif., poured into the streets to see what had happened.

"Course all the neighbors ran out into the street. We didn't know what was going on," said Paul Williams, who heard the explosion.

Some people said they thought it was a plane crash, others, a house explosion. All they could see was smoke and dust rising into the sky about a mile from town.

"It felt like a house blew up, straight up," said Williams.

Residents later found out that the Discovery Channel show was trying to literally "knock the socks off" a mannequin with explosives. The 500 pounds of ammonium nitrate was bigger than they expected.

Chief Barry Burns, of Esparto Fire Department, had several firefighters on hand for the explosion. He said he made the decision not to notify anyone in town for safety sake.

"Mythbusters is supposed to be a really popular show. Everybody would have been out there. We would have had to cancel it because it would have been too dangerous," Burns said.

Stephens' window was replaced that same day, compliments of Mythbusters.

[Abathar]

"Jamie want a BIG boom..."

[chuck_the_tv_out]

seems to me letting people know in advance would have been nice. or why not just go out to the middle of nevada?

[cripplecreek]

I think their biggest was when they vaporized a cement truck.

[WakeUpAndVote]

Now that blowed up good.

[bgill]

I'd say it's busted on the windows and any hopes of receiving the key to the town.

[Hatteras]

Can’t wait to see THAT episode...

[Travis McGee]

When in doubt, overload.

[Hatteras]

It’s gotta be better than trying to catch a fart in a jar while laying in the bath tub.

[SampleMan]

Reminds of this,
“Son, bad things don't happen to you because you are unlucky. Bad things happen to you because you're a dumb-ass.”
-Red Foreman

[Abathar]

It was the fire departments choice not to warn them, they were afraid too many people would show up and they would have to stop it for safety reasons.

[wxgesr]

“We are professionals...do not try this at home.”

[Hawk1976]

My favorite is still the one where they sprayed non-dairy creamerand lit it. The explosion even scared them.

[Abathar]

It was fun to watch Jamie jump when it blew up, and they were a mile away when it happened.

[paulycy]

I rest better at night knowing that there continues to be scientific experiments confirming that igniting explosives still blows stuff up.

Science Never Sleeps. Keep up the good work!

[Flightdeck]

“...in the name of science...”

Science? Please, these guys are hacks. Sub-par engineers laugh at their ridiculous assumptions.

[savedbygrace]

But did the socks come off?

[Abathar]

I liked that show, my father could have stepped in to replace Red and he wouldn’t even need a script.

[Abathar]

If they used 500# of real explosives they probably had to hunt around to find the feet to see if the socks were still there or not.

I’m gonna watch that episode...

[gridlock]

You are right. The “Science Content” is usually stupid. But at least they are trying!

[Eye of Unk]

These two have contributed enough information on how to build “devices” over the years that in a third world communist ruled country they would lock these guys up for life as insurrectionists.

I am totally surprised the Obama goons havn’t shut them down yet.

And if the US was to wage civil war I would most definitely like these guys on my team.

[savedbygrace]

I’m gonna watch that episode...

You mean 'that episplode'.

[absolootezer0]

yeah, but come on, these guys get paid big money playing with toys most of us couldn’t possibly (legally) get our hands on.
500lbs of anfo? that’d get you put on a terrorist watch list if not thrown straight in jail.

[agere_contra]

Oh they’re hacks.

But at least they believe in experiment, observation and the concept that a hypothesis must be falsifiable. Unlike - for instance - all the well paid ‘scientists’ over at the IPCC.

[Tennessee_Bob]

“We are professionals...do not try this at home.”

Instead - try it at a friend's house!

[savedbygrace]

Ironic thing is, a collision with a vehicle can actually take a person’s shoes off their feet.

(And I know of a collision where a motorcycle passenger had her arm traumatically removed by a glancing collision with a car. The arm just came right off in an instant. No explosives required.)

[LRS]

My favorite is still the one where they sprayed non-dairy creamerand lit it. The explosion even scared them.

That was awesome, and one of my 2 favorites, with the water heater being launched as the other one. Why those 2? They were unexpected by me in their scope. (I knew a water heater could blow, but not launched like a rocket!)

[nevergore]

LOL, feel free to not share with us anything else you do in your free time.......

[Abathar]

;) Nice...

[MyTwoCopperCoins]

"It was a boom that was just -- I had never heard anything like that before, it was really wired," Sherril Stephens told TV station KCRA.

You bet it was!

[MortMan]

The Myth Busters biggest contribution to science, IMO, is their use of the scientific method. They choose a hypothesis/myth, design an experiement to test it, actually use math to try and make the experiment accurate, and then BLOW STUFF UP!

[mad_as_he$$]

lol...

[Abathar]

My daughters shoes flew right off her feet when my wife was hit head on, so were their glasses. My wife’s we found in the back compartment of her Yukon, they hit the windshield so hard they bounced back there broken.

Let of energy there, even at slow speed. For several weeks the bruise of the seatbelt made her look like a crossing guard.

[commish]

Think you used enough dynamite ther Butch?

[PfluegerFishin]

I think their biggest was when they vaporized a cement truck.

beyond amazing - I didnt think it possible

[BallandPowder]

Powder..patch..ball FIRE!

500lb of Ammonium Nitrate IS real explosives.

See Timothy McVey...

[Dead Corpse]

“Brute force. If it doesn’t work, you aren’t using enough.”

[ctdonath2]

The biggest unexpected one was when they strapped solid rocket motors to a car to see if they could get it to fly into a mountain about a mile away (testing the great "JATO car" Darwin Award). Ignited when on the launch ramp, the rockets just exploded, destroying the car and the long-awaited experiment. IIRC, Jamie's first words were "someone owes me $10,000".

[sten]

non-dairy creamer cannon :)

very cool video

[diggerwillow]

“And boom goes the dynamite”

[Paladin2]

"their test produced a bigger bank than they expected. "

Maybe they should go help Turbo Tax Tim in DC.

[Paladin2]

“We are professionals...do not try this at home.”

And hold our beers.

[mockingbyrd]

Ah mythbusters. Hubby’s favorite show. Guys blowing stuff up. Still. Things never change.

[Abathar]

"Things never change"

Nope, things going "BOOM" attract men like flies to a bug zapper...

[lwd]

A friend of mine bought a house where the water heater exploded and caused all sorts of damage. It blew a huge hole in one of the sides of the home.

[Poser]

Let me be the first

[Poser]

Que Billy Saul Huroc and Big Jim McBob!

[grellis]

So bully for sub-par engineers! Shows like this help keep my kids interested in science. My 9-year old is learning everything he can about the periodic table so he can be a chemical engineer when he grows up. Believe me, as a parent, this is a great show.

I think you misunderstand just who the target audience is. It's not the guys at NASA.

[Eye of Unk]

I had a keen interest in that episode because I drive a concrete mixer, the hours and days immediately after 9/11 I carried my Beretta 92 with me when I made deliveries because we were advised of a possible threat of truck hijacking to use a mixer for truck bombs.

The trucks I drive are 10-12 cubic yard capacity, that translates to 40-48,000 lbs. of material they can haul.

That much explosive in a single mixer truck would be the size of a small tactical nuke.

[freedomlover]

Thanks for that link.
Then I went to the “Shoot the pig (carcass) with chain out of a cannon” associated link.
Cool