School was over before it started at Hidden Lake High School in Westminster Wednesday morning.
A student was working one-on-one with a science teacher around 7:45 in the morning, when a science experiment turned dangerous, according to Westminster School District spokesperson Steve Saunders.
The teacher and student were mixing two dry chemicals that are normally safe when blended, but pressure was added while combining them causing friction and a small explosion.
The student was rushed to the hospital with injuries to at least one hand.
“I know that he had some fairly significant injuries and he needs to go into surgery, the other hand had less severe injuries and then there was some ceramic shrapnel, for lack of a better word, that might have come up and hit him in the chest,” said Saunders.
Students at the school told Denver7 the quick cancelation of the planned half day of classes caused a chaotic situation around the building.
“There was just a bunch of cops, a fire truck, everyone like, all the teachers were outside telling everyone to go home, there were a bunch of kids just leaving and everyone who just got dropped off was just having to get picked back up,” said Erin Grant, who’s a senior at Hidden Lake High School.
A letter, accompanied by a phone call to all parents, was sent out by the district that read:
Hidden Lake High School will be closed Wednesday, April 27, after a chemical reaction in a laboratory class injured a student.
Early reports indicate the student suffered injuries to his hands because of the incident which happened in a supervised class setting.
The student was taken to the hospital for treatment. There were no other injuries.
All students were immediately evacuated from the building and out of an abundance of caution the decision was made to close the school for the day.
Both Westminster Fire and Police departments responded quickly to the school and have assisted in the evacuation of the school and in reassuring students and faculty that the situation has been safely resolved.
As of now, Hidden Lake High School will be open on Thursday. If that decision were to change, students and parents will be immediately notified.
Westminster Fire crews spent most of the morning ventilating the building using large fans and opening windows.
Classes are expected to resume Thursday morning.
To view our reporter's report, watch the video below:
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