Science-Lab Safety Upgraded After Mishaps

By David J. Hoff

The lab demonstration was going smoothly, as it had earlier in the day, until methyl alcohol vapors ignited into a ball and flashed across the room at Lakeview High School.

In a moment, eight chemistry students at the Battle Creek, Mich., school were burned—one of them so severely that she's still undergoing plastic surgery to repair the skin on her face and upper torso, leading to a lawsuit that has since been settled.

Unfortunately, that Jan. 28, 2000, fire at a school laboratory was not as rare as such mishaps should...