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Granbury Middle School student suffers HORRIFIC BURNS after teacher puts sanitizer on hand, sets it on fire

The female teacher, who has not been named, was put under criminal investigation by authorities and officials, and has now resigned

A science teacher from Granbury Middle School put hand sanitizer on a 12-year-old student's hands and lit them on fire as part of an experiment leaving the boy with possible third-degree burns. The incident occurred on April 1 as part of a science experiment that the 37-year-old teacher had conducted in several classes that day. The aim of the experiment was to show the pace at which the hand sanitizer burned off. 

The female teacher, who has not been named, was put under criminal investigation by authorities and officials, and has now resigned. The student was initially taken to a hospital in Fort Worth before he was transferred to a burn center in Dallas for treatment. 

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Granbury Police Department's Lt Russell Grizzard told NBC 5 that students had volunteered for the experiment. "There was also another classroom that was doing the same thing where there was no incident."

The school district confirmed the teacher's resignation via a tweet on their account on Tuesday, April 2. "A Granbury Middle School student was injured on Friday after attempting to copy a demonstration shown in science class. The student is receiving medical care, and campus officials are cooperating with the city fire inspector/investigator."

"Update…. A GMS teacher has resigned and is no longer an employee of the school district. This follows a student injury on Friday during a science class experiment. Campus officials have turned this matter over to law enforcement/proper authorities for further investigation."

"My first thought was that it definitely sounded irresponsible," the police lieutenant said. "But you know, again, whether it's criminal or not is not up to us to decide. That’s going to be the [District Attorney’s] office that decides that."

Parents outraged

The student's parents took to Facebook to share some visuals of the horrifying incident. The father also informed readers that his son received due treatment and had been discharged. 

Online, many parents were taking sides — while some defended the teacher, many others called the experiment "inexcusable". An angry parent said that "putting a flammable substance on bare hands and igniting it is not a science experiment. It's just stupid." Another said that "there's absolutely NO excuse for putting a child in danger like that!!"

Some sources told CBS that the incident happened after a class finished a test early and the teacher asked students if they wanted to see something "cool".

Photos and videos posted online show the blisters from serious burns the student suffered. A video shows the student quickly putting out a fire on his hands, which was covered in sanitizer. 

Dr. Anthony Pizon, chief of medical toxicology at UPMC in Pittsburgh, said, "Hand sanitizers with high concentrations of ethanol and hydroxypropyl are flammable. Any amount of hand sanitizer can light on fire. The volume controls how rapidly the flame will spread. If you have a little bit on your hands, a little bit will light on fire.”

He continued, "You should make sure your hands are completely dry before you light a match." He also suggested keeping hand sanitizer away from open flames including stoves, candles, fire pits, etc.