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CLEARFIELD — A Clearfield High School teacher and a firefighter were hospitalized Wednesday after a mishap with a large gas canister in a classroom.
Around 10 a.m, a teacher in an advanced welding class opened the valve of a 4-foot-tall canister that he believed was empty, North Davis Fire District spokesman Mark Sessions said.
"(The teacher) was sprayed in the face with a liquid and gas combination of an unknown substance," Sessions said in a statement.
A North Davis Fire District firefighter responding to the incident also was exposed to the mixture of gas and liquid, according to Sessions. Both men were treated at a nearby hospital and later released.
Twenty-one students were treated at the school after some said they were worried about their potential exposure to the unknown gas. Sessions said fire officials are still investigating what was in the canister.
"The canister had been donated to the school for the purpose of cutting up the tank and then instructing students on fabricating pieces of the tank into ornamental bells," he said.
Sessions didn't say who donated the canister.
A hazardous materials unit and an ambulance arrived at the school, and additional crews from the Layton, Clinton and Sunset fire departments, and the South Davis Metro Fire District were called to provide help. The Davis County Sheriff's Office and Davis County Health Department were also called out.
"Local hospitals were put on standby," Sessions said.
About 300 students were evacuated from the satellite building where the exposure occurred and were sent to the school auditorium.
