A cannon made from apple juice cans exploded in a fireball during a high school science experiment in Newhall on Wednesday, burning three students, one of them critically.
The experiment, in which flaming alcohol was intended to launch a tennis ball as a projectile, was conducted on the football field of Hart High School under the supervision of a science teacher, school officials and sheriff's deputies said.
However, one student said the teacher was not closely attending the test that went awry, and some other science teachers expressed surprise at the experiment.
"I don't know what they were trying to prove," said Sidney Benson, a retired USC chemistry professor. "It sounds a little strange to me."
Although it is not yet clear exactly what happened, experts say that the accident may have stemmed from the fact that alcohol burns with a flame that is almost invisible in sunlight. They said the students may have poured more alcohol onto fuel that was already burning, causing the explosion.
Christopher James, 17, one of the school's top soccer players, suffered third-degree burns over 35% of his body, including his hands, arms, chest, shoulders and face, officials said.
The most serious injuries were to his larynx and lungs, which were seared when he inhaled superheated air from the explosion, according to Dr. A. Richard Grossman, director of the Grossman Burn Center at Sherman Oaks Hospital, where Christopher was taken. Grossman said the injuries were potentially life-threatening.
Nolan Lemar, 17, a third baseman on the school's baseball team, was reported in fair condition at the burn center Wednesday night with second- and third-degree burns over 12% of his body, said Larry Weinberg, a burn center spokesman. The explosion seared the left side of Nolan's upper body including his ear, scalp, face, nose, neck, chest, forearm and hand, Weinberg said.
A third student was treated for lesser injuries at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Newhall and released, according to a hospital spokesman, who declined to identify the youth.
Hart Union School District Supt. Robert Lee said about 35 students and their physics teacher, identified by sheriff's deputies as Thomas Magee, had gathered on the football field about 8:30 a.m. to conduct the experiment.
"The class had done the experiment two to three times that morning," Lee said. "It's a common physics experiment. . . . This was an experiment that was done last year."
