MSU student injured in dorm room blast

BOZEMAN — A Montana State University student was hospitalized with burns over more than half his body after an explosion in his dorm room.

University spokesman Tracy Ellig said the student and his roommate were “horsing around” in their room Thursday evening by spraying an aerosol product used to remove stuck-on chewing gum. After spraying the flammable chemical around the room, one of the students triggered the explosion with a lighter.

The blast was strong enough to set off the sprinkler system and buckle the cinderblock walls shared by neighboring rooms. Ellig says “it looked like a giant fist punched both walls on either side.”

One student was hospitalized with second-degree burns, and the other refused treatment. Their names and ages have not been released.