I've posted before about my friends accidentally setting their hair on fire during lab. Those Bunsen burners can really sneak up on you! Last week, however, we had an entirely new fire experience in the lab.
Last week we had our final practical for the class called Dental Anatomy. It involved using green wax to make four teeth and make sure those four teeth hit the other teeth properly.
The project in itself wasn't that difficult, but the simple fact that it was a timed test added a degree of difficulty to the procedure. Everyone's always a little on edge on practical days, so there is always a risk for a minor catastrophe, like dropping your teeth on the floor and breaking them at the last minute, or simply running out of time to finish.
As for my friend Laura, however, the added risk had more to do with fire hazards.
A few minutes after we started the practical, I smelled a strange burning smell in the lab. I looked up to check my area for anything aflame, but didn't see anything burning, so I went right back to work without checking the rest of the lab to see what was happening. (It was a timed test--no time to piddle around making sure my neighbor wasn't on fire.)
It was only after the practical was completed that I heard about Laura's experience.
Our Bunsen burners, like most, are made of a rubber piece of hose that connects to the gas source and then a metal part that hold the flame once it is lit. Unfortunately for Laura, her rubber hose had a small crack in it, which turned out to be a fire hazard. Shortly after the practical started, her Bunsen burner (the very object that is made to hold a flame) caught on fire.
Which brings to mind one simple question: Shouldn't they make Bunsen burners flame retardant?
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