Mythbusters' Stunt Damages Two Homes in California
A Mythbusters’ stunt went wrong Tuesday, sending a cast iron cannonball through two residential homes and a minivan in Dublin, Ca.
The Discovery’s Channel’s series, Mythbusters, was testing out a myth at the Camp Parks Military Firing Reservation, to see how fast a cannonball could fly through the air. However, the experiment went wrong. The cannon misfired and traveled hundreds of feet in the air, according to CBS Los Angeles.
“This cannonball was supposed to go through several barrels of water and through a cinder block, and then ultimately into the side of the hill,” J.D. Nelson, from the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department, told CBS. The objects were supposed to slow the momentum of the cannonball.
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Due to a misfire, at 4 p.m. Tuesday, the cannonball instead traveled 700 yards and into a residential home in Dublin, Ca. It bounced up the stairs to the second floor and exited through a bedroom wall into the street.
It pierced a second home about 50 yards away, damaging the roof. Finally the cannonball stopped when it hit a minivan. The two homes damaged by the out of control cannonball were occupied, but no one was hurt. The minivan’s owner, Jasper Gill, had just stepped out minutes prior to the cannonball crashing into it, according to CBS.
“It hit the dash, through the passenger window,” Gill told CBS. She continued, “I’m lucky I’m alive.”
The accident is being investigated by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department. According to Nelson, the cannon involved had been used many times in the past. He added that they never had any kind of accident like this. Officials added that the Mythbusters’ crew had used the same firing range for these kinds of experiments for almost a decade, with no accidents, according to The International Business Times.
In a statement, The Discovery Channel ensured that all safety protocols were followed. They say that Beyond Productions is assessing the situation and is working with the people who suffered property damage. They also claim a senior producer will meet with the insurers of the victims.
Mythbusters, which is hosted by Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, has been on the air for eight years and this is their first reported incident.
