Mythbusters, a Broken Window, and Jangled Nerves

"Mythbusters 'Big Bang' Shatters Windows"
KCRA (March 25, 2009)

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

"Mythbusters went to Yolo County and ended up with a bigger bang than expected.

" 'It was a boom that was just -- I had never heard anything like that before, it was really weird,' said Sherril Stephens.

"The explosion was so big it shook the town of Esparto, knocking Stephens off her couch and breaking her front window.

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

Kudos to KCRA, for telling more of what happened:

"Williams said the school and others in town should have been notified the blast was going to happen.

"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...."

Sherril's window? Mythbusters replaced it.

I think the fire chief was right: it's better to let a few people fuss, afterward, than to bollix up a project by 'transparency' above and beyond the call of reason.