Six children taken to hospitals after flash fire

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - At least six children were taken to hospitals following an outdoor science experiment outside a west Houston school building, FOX 26 News has confirmed. The experiment resulted in a flash fire.

Six other students were injured, five of them with minor burns, another who was trampled, the Village Fire Department confirmed for FOX 26. Those students' injuries were treated on the campus property.

The Village Fire Department had initially confirmed that one person had suffered burns.The Houston Fire Department says children came into contact with chemicals during a science experiment at The Yellow School at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church.

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church released the following statement on its Facebook page on Tuesday afternoon:

Randy Keeney's 4-year-old son Tyler was one of the students injured.

"He was one of the kids who was injured in the explosion, school experiment I guess so I just came to pick my girls and find out about what's going on," Keeney said.

There weren't too many details about what happened at The Yellow School, a private religious Pre-K affiliated with the Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church.  The immediate focus was on helping the children and calming parents.

"I didn't know anything about the experiment other than what I'm telling you. That it happened outdoors, there was an accident that involved flames, and children were exposed to those flames,"  said Bob Giles.

Some children went to the hospital in ambulances, others in their parents private cars.  So what kind of experiment was this? Why was fire involved?  What was the point of it? All good but unanswered questions right now. Questions school officials and investigators are asking too.

"I don't want to take any prejudged position that anything was wrong here. It was just an unfortunate accident. Fire investigators are inside talking to the  school trying to find out what happened," said Villages Fire Chief David Foster.

Five of the children were treated and released from the hospital.  One will be kept overnight for observation.