On Wednesday, officials in Carlisle released details on a flash fire in a science lab at a Carlisle Middle School in November.
The report says the teacher was responsible for the fire, but he quickly extinguished the flames and aided injured students.
The fire happened at Wilson Middle School on November 28th. A report that was dated on December 7th, from Carlisle Fire and Rescue Services, was not released until Wednesday, even though parents and students had been asking questions but not getting answers.
The fire happened in a science lab in school. Flames from an experiment gone wrong burned five students. Two of the students, and teacher James Redington, were treated for smoke inhalation.
According to the report, Redington poured Isopropyl Alcohol on desk 17 in science room 87. He lit it and students watched it burn out.
The report said Redington poured some more alcohol into a beaker, lit it and answered the students' questions about why it wouldn't explode.
Students asked him, what would happen if more alcohol was added to the burning beaker while there was still a flame. According to reports, Redington did not answer students, but he said to himself during an interview with investigators that the fire followed the stream of rubbing alcohol up into the bottle, igniting the contents inside and propelling flames outward into the classroom. He said he expected it to extinguish the flames by smothering the small surface area, and if he thought there was a chance of anything else happening he wouldn't have done it.
According to several students, Redington is a popular teacher. He was placed on administrative leave with pay after the incident. But last week, he was placed on administrative leave without pay.