| Well, I have a huge respect for the professional and volunteer firefighters, but I'm going to disagree with you. A professional chemistry lab with the right safety equipment can not be compared with haunted houses. I'm familiar with the local fire codes, and I'm quite surprised there were only 3 violations found. A fire department inspection has to find some violations, otherwise they are not doing their job correctly (trust me, they inspect local businesses, too, and talk with us). Nothing can be 100% safe. The schools that are trying to approach this mythical figure by shutting down their labs are giving our future science jobs to the immigrants from India, China and Russia. Chemistry is not a theoretical discipline, and chemical reactions sometimes involve evolution of heat and gases. Many kids at D's school do not want to take chemistry, since it is all talk about ions, orbitals, etc., and the only experiments they get to do involve sugar and water. Ask me how many would want to become chemists - the number is close to 0.
And the fireball - I have a theory that it was done upon the reporter's request. |