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June 18, 2005
Teens Burned in Chem Lab Fire
Huntington Beach High School students are badly injured in a blaze on the
last day of school. Surgeries are scheduled, and 'prayers are needed.'
By David Haldane, Times Staff Writer
Two Huntington Beach High School students were seriously burned Friday when
a
fire flared as they worked in a chemistry lab on the last day of the school
year.
Brian Cross, 17, and Tyler Haureiter, 16, were taken to Western Medical
Center-Santa Ana. Cross was in serious condition with second- and third-degr
ee
burns over 38% of his body, mostly on the upper torso.
Haureiter was in fair condition with head and neck burns.
"A lot of prayers are needed," said Dr. A. Richard Grossman, who was
overseeing the boys' treatment at the hospital's burn center.
"They never will be the way they were before. But our job is to make them as
close [to that] as possible."
Details of what happened in the 7:30 a.m. college preparatory chemistry clas
s
were sketchy. School officials said only that the accident had resulted "fro
m
a supervised classroom chemistry lesson."
Grossman said the injuries, involving methyl alcohol, were caused by fire,
not chemicals, and that Cross was closer to the flames than Haureiter, who w
as
"a step or two" back.
Huntington Beach Fire Department investigators spent most of the day
interviewing witnesses and collecting materials to determine the cause of th
e fire.
Martha Werth, a spokeswoman for the Fire Department, said it appeared that
the flare-up occurred during a science demonstration for about 40 students.
She said it was unclear whether the students or the teacher were handling th
e
chemicals.
"We don't know what kind of an experiment it was," Werth said, "but it was
something that this particular teacher has done many times."
Principal David Linzey said the school also was investigating.
Both boys are scheduled for skin graft surgery Monday, Grossman said, with
Cross probably needing at least one more operation later in the week. The do
ctor
said that the burns =E2=80=94 especially those suffered by Cross =E2=80=94 c
ould take more
than a year to heal.
************************************
James A. Kaufman, Ph.D.
President/CEO
The Laboratory Safety Institute
Safety in Science and Science Education
192 Worcester Road, Natick, MA 01760
508-647-1900 Fax: 508-647-0062 Cell: 508-574-6264
Email: jimkaufman**At_Symbol_Here**labsafety.org
Web Site: http://www.labsafety.org
*************************************
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