OXFORD – A 10-year-old boy is still being treated in the intensive care unit at Syracuse Medical Center for severe burns he received last week. A second 13-year-old victim is now home recovering from severe burns to his legs.

Last Thursday night, the Oxford Police Department was called to the scene of an apparent explosion that happened at the Community Apartments off Chenango Street in the Village of Oxford.

At around 9:01 p.m., a loud explosion was heard near the apartments. Oxford fire and emergency crews responded to the scene and found two young boys injured.

The two victims apparently fished a bottle out of a dumpster containing about a quart of a fluid solution comprised of 25 percent “nitro fluid” – which is commonly found in radio-controlled racing cars.

The fluid contained nitromethane, methanol and some non-petroleum lubricants. The substance is very poisonous and highly flammable.

Fire investigators said the boys were filling the lid of the container and lighting it on fire. The solution was so flammable that even though the kids were outside, the gases traced a trail from the lid of the container back to the source, the container itself, causing it to explode.