Powder horn explodes in 5th-grade class
By LEIGH HUNT
LAKE PLACID - A gunpowder horn exploded during an educational presentation for fifth-graders about Native American life on Thursday morning at the Lake Placid Elementary School.
Gary Hodgson, who worked as a forest ranger for 39 years, was demonstrating for the students different examples of Native American tools, their construction, and their usage. Hodgson has been doing this presentation for five to seven years.
Seventy-four students had gathered in Mrs. Lawrence�s room at the school for his presentation. Bringing several handcrafted props, including a hammer, a birch bark canoe, arrows and a snare, Hodgson was a hit with the students, who seemed genuinely interested in his presentation.
Hodgson demonstrated how to use a musket, storing the gunpowder in a powder horn. The musket contained only the gunpowder, with no bullet, so when fired, it made only a small pop with a small amount of smoke.
Hodgson then attempted to show the students how to make a fire using only two pieces of wood, a bow and stick. Set to the right of the canoe, on the floor with a small amount of tinder, the fire would not start. To show the students how to make a fire without a match or lighter, Hodgson tried to make a fire with the steel and flint in the area on the table.
When Hodgson struck the steel and the flint together, a spark lit the nearby gunpowder, also on the table with the remainder of his props. There was a large explosion and a cloud of smoke filled the air, startling Hodgson, the teachers, and the students. Hodgson rushed out of the room, as he had incurred several cuts and burns on his neck and chest, his arm and his face.
Several students had already been standing but the rest immediately stood and were ushered out of the room by teachers.
The entire school was quickly evacuated as ambulances and fire trucks arrived. The fifth-graders present at the demonstration, as well as their teachers, were clearly affected by the accident, and several students were crying. The school counselor, Mary Michelfelder, was on hand to speak with students and went around checking how the students were dealing with the trauma.
Principal Rick Retrosi and Lake Placid Schools Superintendent Ernest Stretton were at a meeting at the middle/high School when they heard what happened.
�The first thing I heard was fire ... which turned out to be erroneous,� commented Retrosi, adding, �My first concern was if everyone was OK.�
The two immediately went to the elementary school.
The Lake Placid Fire Department received the call at 9:27 a.m., and three trucks and 25 members responded to the school. After the building was cleared of smoke, department members remained on the scene for nearly three hours securing the scene and helping Emergency Medical Services.
According to Stretton, no students or teachers were injured, but some were taken to the hospital for precautionary observation after each student and faculty member present was examined by members of the community medical team. Five emergency trucks and a dozen emergency medical technicians were on hand to assist, said Retrosi. The main complaint, according to the Lake Placid Police Department, was hearing problems due to the loudness of the explosion. One student complained that he was hit by a fragment from the powder horn on the side of his body. He was treated and released from Adirondack Medical Center.
The school has a �very specific protocol for emergency� which comes from extensive practice,� Stretton said. Drills taught the students and teachers what to do in case of emergency and how to react.
Remaining outside while the fire department attended the accident site, students waited as officials decided the appropriate action to take. The rest of the school day was canceled, and the younger students were bussed to the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, the school�s emergency site. The fifth-graders remained for medical screening but were then taken to the OTC.
The OTC is �always very helpful and very cooperative,� commented Stretton. The children�s parents were notified when they reached the OTC, and the students were fed in the cafeteria there.
According to Retrosi, the �atmosphere was good� and the younger children did not seem particularly upset.
�Everybody responded extremely well, very orderly,� he said. �They take it very seriously. We count on them to behave.�
Parents were able to pick their children up at the OTC. In cases where parents were home but could not come to the OTC to get their children, students were bussed home. For the rest of the school body, teachers and staff remained on hand.
Parents expressed concern about the fact that gunpowder was present on school grounds as the school was not aware that it would be, according to Detective Jim Dowie of the Lake Placid Police Department.
The LPPD arrived and investigated the scene, concluding that �it was an accident that unfortunately was unpreventable,� said Dowie. �It has never happened before, nor will it ever happen again,� continued Dowie, adding that �it was an accident by an expert.�
The investigation by the LPPD is expected to last a few days, said Dowie.
�The (district attorney) was notified of the circumstances,� Dowie said. �It does not appear at this time that the (district attorney) will file any charges.�
Hodgson has not yet been interviewed by the police as he remains at Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake and was listed in stable condition as of Thursday afternoon around 3 p.m.
Stretton expressed gratitude for all the help the community provided.
�We appreciate all that the fire department, the police department and the emergency responders did, and all the effort of the staff and faculty,� he said, adding that the school�s bus drivers was also extremely helpful in dealing with the situation.
School will go on today as usual, with additional counselors on hand to speak with any student. It will be �business as usual,� said Retrosi.