Fermenting bucket popped open!?

Hey there, I'm on my Boyfriends account here, I just heard a loud noise and found that his fermenting bucket had popped open, theres beer all around the top and in the airlock also. It is an IPA, brewed yesterday and started fermenting some time overnight. He's at work and I'm not sure if it's O.K. to take out and clean the airlock? I've closed the bucket and sanitized everything on the outside.. Is it ok to leave the guck in the airlock until he's home or should I do something about it now? Appreciate your answers

What a lucky guy. Sanitize your hands with his sanitizer, then take the airlock off, and rinse it. Fill it back up with sanitizer and put it back in. Just clean up the mess and snap the lid back on. If he has a blow off tube, use that instead of the airlock. Here's instructions on making one if you really want to be a super girlfriend. http://www.love2brew.com/Articles.asp?ID=279 Without the blow off tube, the beer will probably blow again.

I leave the lid on loose for a few days with about a 1 pound weight on it in case of a really active fermentation. That way if the airlock plugs, the lid will just let the kraeusen ooze out without blowing off and making a mess. I've had an explosion even with a blow-off tube.

It would be worth checking on the temperature, too. It might be too warm.

Thanks for the responses guys! She did a great job getting things back together. I opted for a blowoff tube and things settled down. I really don't think it was too hot as I pitched at about 65F and had the bucket in a pot of cold water with a bit of ice.