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Bath teen injured in explosion
By Margo Oxendine • Staff Writer
HOT SPRINGS - A 15-year-old Bath County boy was seriously injured last week in an explosion he ineptly created in his bedroom.
Special Agent Allen Brown, with the Virginia State Police, told The Recorder he received a call about 2 a.m. Tuesday, April 29, to visit the site on Airport Mountain, near the Bath-Alleghany line.
"The juvenile was attempting to build a homemade firecracker," Brown said. "He was mixing two chemical components, which spontaneously reacted, which resulted in an explosion."
Brown said the teen, who is not being identified because of his age, was "pretty badly injured" in the blast. "He was transported to Roanoke for surgery, and is now at home recuperating," Brown said this week. The youth sustained cuts on his face and neck, flash burns on his face and injuries to his hand.
Investigators searched the teen's room and found "a lot of explosive components, chemicals, powders, empty casings and fireworks, along with handwritten instructions on how to manufacture different types of explosive compounds," Brown said.
The teen's laptop computer was seized by state police, as well as "videos of different home-made devices," the investigator added.
The case is still under investigation, and no charges have been filed yet.
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