Teacher hurt by chemical is recovering
Posted on Friday, October 6, 2006
A Siloam Springs teacher was recovering at home Thursday, a day after white powder burned her face when she tore open a package at school.
The substance, believed to be a cleaning agent, blew into Siloam Springs High School yearbook adviser Lisa Tiger on Wednesday as she opened a UPS shipping envelope, said Siloam Springs Fire Department Chief Jimmy Harris.
The envelope contained a CD of digital photographs sent from Virginia by Lifetouch Inc., Siloam Springs High School Principal Charlie Abernathy said.
Lifetouch is a national portrait service with a branch in Rogers.
Harris said the powder likely settled on the package’s exterior during the mailing process and became airborne when Tiger ripped it open.
The teacher smelled a foul odor before her face began to burn, itch and breakout into red splotches, officials said. A hazardous materials team quarantined Tiger and the 17 students who were in the classroom Wednesday.
All of the students were back in school Thursday.
Officials first worried the powder was anthrax, said Siloam Springs Police spokesman Brenda Balk.
“Considering all the schools that have been in the news with incidents lately, it’s not something to take lightly,” she said. “We probably overdid it, but you have to treat it like the real thing.”
Doctors prescribed a salve for the injured teacher, Abernathy said.
Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services technicians in Little Rock are analyzing the substance.
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