Early in the morning of Nov. 25, the day before Thanksgiving, a caller reported to NAUPD that she thought she heard fireworks going off in Mountain View Hall. When authorities arrived, they found five two-liter soda bottles filled with hydrochloric acid and aluminum foil — ingredients often used to make small explosives.

NAUPD police officers, fire trucks from three Flagstaff Fire Department (FPD) stations, the Flagstaff bomb squad and the Office of Residence Life were dispatched to the scene at 3 a.m. and found three bottles inside Mountain View and two outside the building. According to Tom Bauer, the assistant director of NAU Public Affairs, three of the explosives had detonated and the other two were defused.

One NAUPD officer was sent to the hospital after interaction with the acid fumes, but was released soon after with no health issues. The only property damaged was the carpeting inside the building.

Mark Johnson, the captain FPD’s Station 4, led the crew sent to the scene. He said acid bombs are rarely reported and in his 15 years at FPD, this is the first time acid bombs were found inside a building with people in it. He said it was also the first time they have been found on campus.

“This was a pretty extreme example,” Johnson said. “It’s very scary because this is very easy to put together and can cause some serious harm.”

Although the people remaining in the wing where the bombs were located evacuated the building, the rest of Mountain View did not have to leave. There were also no emergency text messages sent to students. However, members of the Parents Association received an email and crime alerts have been posted around Mountain View.

Bauer said Mountain View was not evacuated because authorities saw no imminent danger.

“There is potential danger there, so we are taking it seriously,” Bauer said. “But at the time, we didn’t think there was any serious danger because everything was under control.”

Bauer said NAUPD and Residence Life are conducting a criminal and administrative investigation. The investigators found leads in the case, but no suspects have been disclosed.

“The person will face either suspension or expulsion and we will be pursuing that,” Bauer said.

The Flagstaff Police Department is assisting NAU when needed, but they are not playing a major role in the investigation.

Charlie Burge, a freshman mechanical engineering major and resident of Mountain View, said while he was not at the dorm when the explosives were found, he feels Mountain View should have been evacuated.

“From what they said, it wasn’t that big of a deal,” Burge said. “If there were potential explosives, then yeah, they should have [evacuated].”

Johnson said most of the students did not stay in the dorm because they had gone home for the Thanksgiving break. However, he said that does not lessen the significance of the crime.

“Whether it was one or 100 people in the dorm, it was still a really serious deal,” Johnson said.

Hydrochloric acid, when combined with aluminum foil, has the potential to expand and that can cause damage to any person or property located near the explosives.

Johnson said while these types of explosives can cause major damage and should never be taken lightly, they aren’t as potent as other bombs.

“It’s not a huge detonating bomb,” Johnson said. “It does have potential for serious damage, but it’s not the type of bomb we would normally think of. What’s unfortunate is that anyone can go to a hardware store and get this stuff.”

NAUPD encourages anybody with information to call its office at 523-3611.