Camp-18, Juneau Icefield, 1989 "Glue-fire"

It was another banner weather-day at C-18 and the small crew of twelve (including 5 staff members and 7 students) were doing camp chores under sunny skies and comfortable temperatures in the mid-50's. Jim Anderson (Geobotanist extraordinaire) and Jeff(Torgy)Torgerson (Weather-geek) were helping George Williams (Geological wonder) with the task of refinishing the kitchen with a new formica countertop. We had a gallon can of glue adhesive with which to adhere the formica to the countertop. Jim, always using his noggin, decided to heat up the glue in the propane oven. A couple of problems were later evident...1. he didn't tell anyone what he was doing, 2. he failed to remove the lid of the glue container, and 3. other goings on around the kitchen area caused him to forget that the glue was in the oven. The rest, you can probably guess, is history. After about 20 minutes of heating and building up pressure within the sealed can, everyone on the Camp-18 rock heard a deafening explosion from the kitchen. Those in the kitchen were lucky enough to have not been directly in front of the oven when the door blasted open with hot glue spewing everywhere. Torgy, wiping a bit of scalding goo from his arm saw the inside of the oven on fire and ran outside to turn off the gas at its source. George and Jim tended to the numerous 'mini-fires' around the kitchen where glue gobs were smoldering away. We then, after assessing the (luckily minor) medical aspects, began the task of cleanup. That afternoon we had a rare outdoor lunch on the C-18 rock while the kitchen dried to the point of becoming 'chisel-able'. Later that evening, during a typical Icefield seminar, the staff members presented a little talk on Safety and the cautions concerning installing formica. Number one in a series. Torgememnon