By Daniel Wagner
Newsday
STONY BROOK, N.Y. — Francisco Lopes, a Stony Brook University researcher with a doctorate in biology, said he didn’t know that storing dry ice in an airtight container could cause an explosion.
But Friday night, he - and many neighbors on his quiet Stony Brook cul-de-sac - found out that it can.
Lopes had brought home from work what he described as “some small pieces” of dry ice to show his young daughter. But after putting the sealed jar of dry ice in his lunchbox and leaving it in the basement, he left home for dinner with family members.
The show-and-tell was forgotten until about 9:30 p.m., when the ice had released so much carbon dioxide gas that its container could no longer withstand the pressure. That’s when an explosion rocked the house, shattering the glass and shredding the soft cooler. No one was hurt.
Lopes, who didn’t find out about the explosion until he returned home around 11 p.m., said his hours-long interview with officials initially made him “very uncomfortable.” But he said, “I realized that if something happened, the police and the fire department are so great — and that so many people worked so well to be sure my family was fine.”
Standing in front of the house on Quaker Hill Road yesterday afternoon, Lopes said he had no idea the dry ice would release so much gas as it warmed. His mistake, he said, was screwing on the container’s lid so tightly.
Lopes’ stepdaughter, Anna Fabbri, 23, was in the basement when the explosion occurred, he said. Startled, she asked a friend she was chatting with on the computer to call the police. A neighbor, who would not give her name, said Fabbri was worried at first that the noise could have been from an intruder.
Police from Suffolk’s Sixth Precinct responded, as did arson squad detectives, the Stony Brook Fire Department, the University Fire Marshal and other emergency services officers.
“It was overkill,” the neighbor said. “The whole cul-de-sac and the whole street were filled” with fire trucks, police cars, two ambulances and the Fire Marshal’s “giant van.” She said police asked her to go inside shortly after the incident, and came back around midnight to reassure her that everything was safe.
Wei Zhu, another neighbor, said she and her husband tried to get to their house — just past Lopes’ — around 10:30 p.m., but that police stopped them and told them to return later.
“Due to the homeowner’s occupation, it was unknown if any hazardous materials were involved in the explosion,” the police release said, but "... no hazardous condition ever existed.”
“It was a big response, but not a big problem,” Lopes said.
Police said no charges were filed.
Take care when handling dry ice
Dry ice, a supercooled solid form of carbon dioxide, is easily available from cold-food manufacturers and party supply stores, and it is generally safe. But if, as in this case, it is not handled correctly, the results can be disastrous.
Here are some tips for the safe handling and storage of dry ice.
Always wear protective cloth or leather gloves when handling dry ice. Contact with the skin can cause burn-like injuries.
Store dry ice in an insulated container that is not airtight. The insulation will keep the material cool, preventing it from converting to gas too quickly. Airtight containers provide no release for the gas and can lead to an explosion.
Keep dry ice in well-ventilated areas. If it is stored in a place like a closed cellar, the carbon dioxide gas could eventually replace oxygenated air, making it impossible to breathe.
If you are entering a closed space, like a car, where dry ice has been stored, leave the area open for 10 minutes to allow fresh air to replace air with potentially dangerous levels of carbon dioxide.