A lawsuit against the Friends of Scientopia and the city of Napa, filed on behalf of a 9-year-old Napa boy who was severely burned when his clothes caught fire during a city-sponsored 2018 science day camp, has resolved with a $18.5 million settlement.

The boy suffered burns to his chest, neck, right arm and other areas over 21% of his body that resulted in 41 days of initial hospitalization, and further hospitalizations after that, according to the court documents. He also went through physical and occupational therapy and counseling, and will require further surgeries as he ages, the documents state.

Napa agreed to pay $17.5 million of the settlement, while the Friends of Scientopia who operated the Scientopia Discovery Center and provided science-focused classes in Napa agreed to pay $1 million, according to settlement documents finalized in January. (The city's excess liability provider PRISM paid the city's side of the settlement aside from $150,000 a payment that essentially serves as a deductible, according to public information officer Jaina French.)

According to the settlement documents, about $340,000 will go to various medical fees while about $4.6 million in legal fees will go to attorney Thomas Brandi. The remaining amount will be split; $7 million will go to a trust for the minor's benefit, and a $6.5 million structured settlement will be paid out in increments to the boy as he ages, starting once he's 20 years old.

With the settlement, both parties have denied liability; they "agreed to resolve the case to avoid further litigation expense and uncertainty, and to provide for the child's care," according to a city statement.

"The trauma that the child has endured as a result of this incident is something we would not wish upon any child," according to the statement. "By reaching this settlement, the city of Napa wished to provide for the child's care and ensure that the child would not be put through any further undue distress related to the case."

The boy was an attendee at a city sponsored summer camp called "Get A Reaction Using Chemistry," taught by Scientopia an independent contractor with the city of Napa's Parks and Recreation Department from 2015 to 2018 at the Blue Oak Middle School campus.

On June 28, 2018, he was among a group of students watching three Scientopia instructors perform a science demonstration known as a carbon snake experiment, which involved igniting a mixture of baking soda, powdered sugar and isopropyl alcohol.

A column of ash is supposed emerge from the mixture in the approximate shape of a snake. But, that day, the carbon snake didn't initially emerge as intended; the Scientopia staff smothered the experiment, and attempted to redo it about 15 minutes later, according to the court documents.

As one of the instructors lit the mixture for the second carbon snake, a jet of flame shot out of the bottle of rubbing alcohol, passed over another instructor's arm, and ignited the boy's shirt, according to the court documents.

The instructors attempted to extinguish the flames they told the boy to "stop, drop and roll," and one removed the boy's shirt to stop the fire after 20 to 30 seconds and they told another counselor, who was passing by, to call 911, according to the documents. One instructor treated the boy's burns with wet paper towels until emergency services arrived.

The lawsuit, filed on July 11, 2019, sought payment related to those medical expenses as well as other damages. It played out through much of the following three-and-a-half years with various legal disagreements between the city of Napa and Scientopia, as well as fact finding efforts.

According to a deposition of Michele Dahlberg, who was president of the Friends of Scientopia, the organization didn't tell the entities it contracted with the demonstrations it would conduct, though the entities also didn't request that information. The city essentially didn't know the organization was performing the carbon snake experiment, or any experiment involving a flame, according to the deposition, and didn't supervise or monitor Scientopia camps.

Scientopia workers got the instructions for the carbon snake experiment from science websites and internet videos, and weren't aware of any problems connected to the experiment, according to a deposition of a former Scientopia instructor present during the 2018 incident. They had previously performed the experiment at chemistry themed camps or classes without issue, and had performed it during a previous 2017 city summer camp.

Brandi, who represented the boy, said he's thankful the case is resolved, and the family is hopeful the case has brought change to how the city oversees its camps so a similar incident won't happen again.

Some changes have been made at the city level as a result of the incident, according to French. For one, the city immediately discontinued using Scientopia as a contractor following the incident, and no longer offers chemistry classes or camps. The city also put in place a more robust contract instructor vetting process, and now requires initial and annual reviews of the contractor's safety program, French said. And recreational classes and programs offered by city contractors are now held at only city facilities, city parks and Napa Valley Unified School District sites.

That safety program requires contractors to provide a list of hazardous materials and example lesson plans. And the city requires staff to conduct more spot checks and audits of contract instructor programs. New and continuing staff members are also required to go through enhanced safety and emergency training.

As for Scientopia, the organization ceased operations in late 2018, "for reasons unrelated to the lawsuit," Dahlberg said in an email.

A use permit for the Scientopia Discovery Center, a hands-on creative play space for children 12 and younger originally located at 1785 Tanen St., off of Soscol Avenue, and owned by Jonathan and Marcy Deeds was approved by the city of Napa's planning commission in early 2009, and opened in May that year.

Scientopia was put up for sale in 2013, and Dahlberg formed the Friends of Scientopia a public benefit nonprofit supporting science education to try to buy and operate it. With community support, Dahlberg was successful.

But in January 2016, Dahlberg closed the doors of the Tanen Street discovery center. She cited financial problems and said Scientopia would be focusing on mobile operations while raising money and searching for a new location, according to previous Register reporting.

Scientopia did, indeed, hold day camps with the city of Napa and other groups over the next two years.

Dahlberg said in an email "we wish the young man and his family the best recovery after this very sad incident," but declined to comment further.