Volatile chemical clears Burris

The Daily News

A HAZMAT crew waits outside of Burris Laboratory School on Wednesday during the disposal of chemicals that were discovered in a storage closet. The chemical, picric acid, is highly flammable in crystallized form. DN PHOTO ADAM BAUMGARTNER
A HAZMAT crew waits outside of Burris Laboratory School on Wednesday during the disposal of chemicals that were discovered in a storage closet. The chemical, picric acid, is highly flammable in crystallized form. DN PHOTO ADAM BAUMGARTNER

Concern about a potentially explosive chemical caused students and faculty to evacuate Burris Laboratory School early Wednesday morning.


Students waited in Ball Gymnasium for five hours as safety professionals removed the chemical from the building.


Tuesday night, a teacher discovered a container of about half a pound of crystallized picric acid in a chemical storage closet. When environmental safety experts investigated the next morning, they determined it was dangerous. 


“This is a very volatile chemical in the state it’s in,” Muncie Fire Department Battalion Chief Jim Clevenger said.


Bob Morris, Burris associate provost and former chemistry department chair, said the crystallized acid is particularly sensitive to bumps, making it dangerous for anyone to carry through the building.


Instead, a bomb squad had to place it in a small crate and lower it from a second-floor window into a bomb-safe trailer using a system of pulleys. 


To dispose of chemicals such as these, Clevenger said professionals must drive the trailer to an isolated area and detonate its contents.


University Police Department officers blocked University Avenue between Tillotson and Talley avenues to allow students to relocate safely and to clear the street for emergency vehicles.


Rescue vehicles and fire trucks were on the scene in case of an explosion. A HAZMAT tent and crew were also present as a precaution.


Parents were notified of the evacuation via email around 9 a.m.


Clevenger said a major concern among safety professionals was ensuring parents knew there was no bomb or gun threat.


“In today’s world with what happened in Connecticut and everything else — you know, for a parent to drive by and see emergency vehicles surrounding a school — people are on edge,” Clevenger said.


The Ball State Dining Services provided lunch for the students in kindergarten through fifth grades in Ball Gym, while students in sixth through twelfth grades ate in the L.A. Pittenger Student Center.


They were allowed to reenter Burris by 2 p.m.


Tony Proudfoot, associate vice president of Ball State Marketing and Communications, said Burris will begin to enhance its procedures for handling chemicals in the future.


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