In the news: Chen talks spontaneous combustion for story on Preble fire

Associate Prof. Franklin Chen, NAS (Chemistry), helped explain spontaneous combustion Monday (Aug. 11) for a WLUK, Fox 11 story on last week’s fire at Green Bay Preble High School. District officials announced Monday that the fire started when some rags used to resurface the gym floor were improperly disposed of. Wood resurfacing products have low ignition points, Chen told Fox 11 reporter (and UW-Green Bay alum) Ben Krumholz, so the right amount of heat can start a fire. “But in a garbage can or what happened,” Chen said, “that heat cannot be dissipated, so that heat accumulated.” The school district said that due to damage from the blaze, classes will likely not start as scheduled Sept. 2. Full story.

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