A physics chemical experiment ended in flames on Monday, Nov. 12, at Eastern Camden County Regional High School causing six students and one teacher to be transported to the hospital.
The students and teacher were “transported to area hospitals for medical treatment and precautionary reasons,” a brief statement released by the high school said.
Five students and the teacher were sent to Virtua Hospital and released yesterday, while one student was transported from Cooper Hospital to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), police Chief Lou Bordi said.
Four students returned to school today, but the one student who was transferred to CHOP suffered first and second-degree burns, Superintendent of Schools Harold Melleby said.
Classrooms were up and running with minimal damage to the room where the experiment took place, he said.
According to Bordi, the fire started just before 1 p.m. in a chemistry classroom. The teacher was conducting an experiment, and two classes worth of students were in the room at the time, he said.
The initial cause of the “flash fire” is still under investigation by the fire department and the prosecutor’s office, but normal chemicals found in the classroom were used for the experiment, fire Chief Jim Pacifico said.
The school is also conducting an investigation, Melleby said.
When responders arrived at the scene, the fire was self-extinguished and the building evacuated, he said.
Bordi said no criminal activity is suspected.
“It was an unfortunate mistake,” he said.
Stay tuned as more information is released.
