nevada. just ten miles from the las vegas strip. dennis todd is doing routine repair work on a tv transmission tower on the top of black mountain when he notices an extremely bright fire down below. >> we looked down and saw this fire with this brilliance, like a fourth of july sparkler. unlike anything i'd seen before. >> the fire is so bright because it's fueled by ammonium perchlorate, a highly flammable fluid used to make rocket fuel. todd grabs his video camera and begins recording. >> i set it on a tripod, pointed it down to the fire, and went back to eating my lunch. >> the fire has broken out at the pacific engineering and production company, known as p pepcon, where ammonia p perchlorate is manufactured for the rockets. >> those are filled with ammonia