An explosion in a Long Island man's basement damaged sheet rock and spread broken glass while shredding a soft cooler Saturday evening, causing Long Island emergency personnel to respond in force. The bomb scare was the result of a show-and-tell gone awry. Francisco Lopes is a researcher at Stony Brook University, who said that he brought home some pieces of dry ice in a sealed glass jar to show his daughter. He left the container in his lunch cooler and left for dinner with family members. Unfortunately, Lopes did not realize what apparently many teenagers are fully aware of: allowing dry ice to warm in a sealed container results in a buildup of gas pressure that ends with a loud bang.
First responders from multiple Suffolk County agencies responded to the report of an explosion and questioned Lopes for several hours, which made him "very uncomfortable." Ultimately though, he said he was appreciative of the thorough job the fire department and police did to make sure his family was safe. One of his neighbors was less enthusiastic.
"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.
A husband and wife who live in a house past the Lopes' were not allowed to return home at 10:30 pm, when police told them to come back later. No charges were filed against Lopes, although we imagine the next block party on the cul-de-sac where he lives might be an akward affair.
