Excitement
Just had a small fire: a student technician was grinding up spinach in acetone to extract the chlorophyll for a course.
She was using an old Waring blender.
I was in my office working with the Chemistry supervisor, and we heard a `whumph' noise, and then screams for the Biology lab supervisor. Knew something had happened, but the noise died down, so I assumed it was over.
But then the hubbub started getting louder and louder, with some more screams. I rushed out of my office...
The acetone and the spinach had caught fire - either an acetone aerosol from the blender or a drip was ignited from the carbon-brush motor of the blender. The student had the presence of mind to throw the fire blanket over the blender, but the fire didn't smother. Instead, the acetone came through the fire blanket and started burning on the outside of the blanket - hence the 2nd round of screaming.
Another professor had also rushed out. We each grabbed one of the nearby fire extinguishers - except I started spraying second, and I was in the downdraft of the first fire extinguisher. Nasty! When I started pulling the mess apart to see if the fire was out, the fire blanket was still hot and smoldering, so he gave the shebang a second blast.
Fun. No students or animals were hurt in the making of this LiveJournal update.
She was using an old Waring blender.
I was in my office working with the Chemistry supervisor, and we heard a `whumph' noise, and then screams for the Biology lab supervisor. Knew something had happened, but the noise died down, so I assumed it was over.
But then the hubbub started getting louder and louder, with some more screams. I rushed out of my office...
The acetone and the spinach had caught fire - either an acetone aerosol from the blender or a drip was ignited from the carbon-brush motor of the blender. The student had the presence of mind to throw the fire blanket over the blender, but the fire didn't smother. Instead, the acetone came through the fire blanket and started burning on the outside of the blanket - hence the 2nd round of screaming.
Another professor had also rushed out. We each grabbed one of the nearby fire extinguishers - except I started spraying second, and I was in the downdraft of the first fire extinguisher. Nasty! When I started pulling the mess apart to see if the fire was out, the fire blanket was still hot and smoldering, so he gave the shebang a second blast.
Fun. No students or animals were hurt in the making of this LiveJournal update.