Two Dublin High students suffered burn injuries from butane burner

DUBLIN, Calif. (KGO) -- Friday night, two high school students are being treated for burns after a freak accident at school. It happened at Dublin High School during a year end celebration.

There was an important lesson learned on Friday. Investigators say the two students knew a gas stove wasn't working properly, but they continued using it when they should have just stopped.

It happened just before the annual powder puff football game at the high school.

"Students were having a club fair with lots of different foods for students to purchase, like a little food court outside in our quad," Dublin High School principal Carol Shimizu said.

Students were pan frying chicken on a butane camping stove when flames shot out from the burner.

A witness told ABC7 News, "She touched her hair and was screaming, 'I'm on fire!' [The flames] got taller and taller as time went by, but I think it lasted for a good minute or so."

Firefighters say a male and female student suffered first degree burns and went to the hospital, but it could have been worse.

"One of the students saw it, quickly threw his arm up and pushed the girl, who was injured a little bit more, down to the ground. She got burns on her face and chest. He got burned on his arm and back of his head and got her out of the way," Alameda County Fire Capt. Paul Obrien said.

It's believed the stove was leaking butane when a gust of wind blew the gas into the flame of another stove, next to it. Investigators say the students may not have smelled the butane because many of the foreign-made canisters are not injected with an odor that would alert users of a leak.