Molten Copper Steam Explosion

Occurred on May 10, 2025 / Roanoke, Texas, USA

Info from Licensor: "My son, a welder, forging since 15, got a new forge and wanted to make “copper shot” from old copper ingots in our backyard. He’d done it with aluminum, but copper’s a whole other ballgame. My distracting comments, our haste, and modified tongs made it a near fatal mistake. Pouring molten copper into a water-filled stock pot was a bad call. The ~2000°F copper vaporized the water, causing a steam explosion. The pot shot straight up, the crucible flew over my head, and copper rained down. Somehow, we were unscathed. I thought he was surely hurt bad. I checked myself for shrapnel holes and yelled, “Logan, you okay?!” before the pot even landed. PSA: don’t mix molten metal and water!"