A high school chemistry class fire that injured five Virginia students and a teacher
last week during a popular chemistry demonstration has prompted a wave of safety alerts.
Officials have declined to release key details about the fire, including whether the demonstration was performed under a fume hood —
as district safety guidelines advise — or what kind of liquid the teacher used.
There have been at least three serious accidents in U.S. high schools involving open-flame experiments since 2002, each of them burning students.