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The following article was online today
Prank halts Latin students’ field day
By Matt Collette, Globe Correspondent | June 11, 2009
A two-liter soda bottle, probably filled with dry ice, exploded behind a Dorchester church yesterday afternoon, abruptly curtailing a school cookout and shutting down area streets for several hours as crews worked to ensure that four similar bottles posed no threats.
At about 1:15 p.m., someone threw the five bottles into the yard behind Bethel Presbyterian Church, located at the intersection of Deckard Street and Humboldt Avenue, said District Chief Jeff Whitman of the Boston Fire Department. One bottle burst with a loud bang. In an adjacent park, two police officers working at a field day for Boston Latin Academy juniors called for backup, and dozens of emergency responders were on the scene in minutes.
“I guess a couple of kids just wanted to ruin this for us,” said Frank Chen, the class treasurer. The junior class field day featured a cookout, games, and even a rented dunk tank where students could throw balls at a target in an attempt to soak their teachers.
Responders wearing green protective suits and protective masks fired a water cannon at the remaining bottles to neutralize them, Whitman said. Each bottle burst with a loud bang, which left nearby residents wondering what was going on.
“I heard a big boom. It was so loud,” said Ernie Griffin, 52, who left his apartment when he heard the first blast. Griffin was one of several local residents who stood outside, attempting to find out what was going on. Most went back indoors after a few minutes, unable to see anything interesting on the dreary day.
Finally, at 4 p.m., police officers removed the yellow police tape and allowed vehicles and pedestrians to pass again.
Alston Allen, a specialist in hazardous materials with the Boston Fire Department, said initial tests indicated that the bottles were filled with dry ice, which is carbon dioxide in its solid state. Yesterday’s cooler temperatures, he said, kept the threat at bay. “On a hot day, they would have gone off,” said Allen, explaining that heat would have increased the pressure inside the bottle.
One man, a teacher at Boston Latin Academy who declined to give his name, saw a slight silver lining in the afternoon’s mayhem.
“I was in the dunk tank,” he said. “I got saved.”
Globe correspondent Stewart Bishop contributed to this report.
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