Pyrotol

This article is about pyrotol, the explosive. For the industrial catalyst, see pyrotol catalyst.

Pyrotol was an explosive available for a time after World War I. It was reprocessed from military surplus cordite and smokeless powder. Usually used in combination with dynamite, it created an incendiary blast. Since it was very inexpensive, it was often used by farmers to remove tree stumps and clear ditches. Production of pyrotol dwindled in the 1920s after the Bath School disaster where the substance was used to blow up an elementary school and kill 45 people, mostly children. It is likely that production would have dwindled soon anyway, as supplies of military surplus powders ran out.