Dane Neuberger was front and center when the classroom science experiment blew up, setting his face on fire.
"I was on fire," said 15-year-old Neuberger, who is being treated at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis for second-degree burns to his face, neck and right hand. "People were screaming, and everyone just ran out."
Three other students treated for burns at the hospital were released.
Thursday morning, ninth-graders in the second-hour science class at Maple Grove Junior High School had turned their desks toward the science table where teacher Matthew Achor conducted experiments for the class final.
The first time the teacher dropped a match into a jug of methanol, Neuberger said the experiment seemed to work. "It made a loud boom and a little flame," he said. "Everyone thought that was cool and clapped."
Neuberger looked down at his paper to begin writing down his observations. "I'm pretty sure he was starting it up to do it a second time," Neuberger said. "And the next thing I know I'm on fire."
"The whole thing was confusion," he said. "It hit my face and my chest. ... I felt the heat of the fire on my face."
Neuberger said Achor immediately threw a fire blanket on him, extinguishing the fire on his face. Neuberger pulled off his long-sleeve shirt, which was still on fire.