Students and staff evacuated the school after a water main break triggered the fire alarm at approximately 1:20 p.m. They were met by heavy rain.
When exiting the building, students and staff speculated about the reason for the alarm; intentional activation and false alarms have forced evacuations frequently in recent years. During the evacuation, a teacher confirmed that it was not a drill because teachers were not notified ahead of time and because a drill would not be scheduled during sixth period, which is a lunch period.
While outdoors, some teachers were eventually advised that the alarm resulted from a water main break. In an announcement upon return to sixth period, Principal Eric Juli said that the steam from the water was hot enough that it set the alarm off.
“This was not a pull,” he said. “This was an actual water main break in the building. A sink broke, and it broke the water main line.”
In the past, moisture in the alarm system’s wiring has caused ground faults, leading the alarm to trigger. In addition, a drop in water pressure caused by such a break could trigger the alarm because the sprinkler system would be compromised.
Students and staff sheltered under trees and ran for cover from the rain. Those without rainwear or umbrellas were soaked. “I was thinking about whether or not my shoes were being ruined,” IB Business teacher Bradley Bullard said while he was standing in the rain.
“I’ve learned from this experience that there is nothing warmer than a spare set of dry clothes,” psychology teacher Victoria Berndt said.
After approximately 10 minutes, students were let back into the building to get out of the weather and told to stay on the first floor. After approximately two minutes there, students were told to return to sixth period class.
Students questioned why they were not dismissed after the incident. “I feel like we should have been sent home,” senior Madi Moore said.
Associate Principal Jamie Dubsky said lunch played a role in deciding how to proceed. “To the best of my knowledge, any time that we have a fire drill during sixth period it gets difficult because some kids still need to eat lunch. We were bringing people back into the building to their previous spot. It would be a better way to get a better track of where kids are, because that’s where they left off,” he said.
Lunch C was ongoing during the evacuation. “I hadn’t finished my food yet,” senior Wyatt Roth said. The confusion about what period to head back to caused some students to miss the end of lunch.
“I want to go back to lunch. I wasn’t finished,” sophomore Liz Wilson said.
At 1:40 p.m., the bell rang to end sixth period, creating confusion about whether students should remain or go to eighth period. After a few minutes, Juli made an announcement telling students to return to sixth period. Students were eventually dismissed to eighth period at 2 p.m.
Freshman Lizzie Harbaugh said the experience was frustrating. “Because my phone was in my pouch, I didn’t have any way to call my mom and tell her I needed to be picked up,” she said. “My jeans were still soaked at 3:10 p.m. and I’m just worried that if there is a real fire or emergency, I would be cold and wet and would have no way to contact my parents to come and get me.”
Junior Christian Lampley said he was shocked by the school and student response. “This is a bunch of tomfoolery. I’m scared; there was almost a riot,” he said, referring to students who were gathered in the hallway outside the main office chanting, “F— this school.”
The sink that broke was in the South Gym in the office of track coach Anthony Watkins. “It was just an older sink,” said Watkins. “The line was fragile, and it cracked.”
The water stayed inside Watkins’ office. “We got lucky. It would’ve come on to the gym floor if they hadn’t turned the main system off,” Watkins said. “If anything, just some of my belongings were damaged.”
Freshman Ian Nelson said maintenance is overdue. “I can’t believe the schools haven’t replaced these pipes and systems yet,” he said. “How have these pipes gone so long without change that there’s a hot water leak steaming so bad it sets off the fire alarm? These things need to be fixed.”
The evacuation today was a continuation of the unusual events that have transpired at the high school in the past week, including new security measures instituted in response to the discovery of weapons. Since Sept. 20, students have waited in line for as long as 45 minutes to be wanded and have their bags checked before entering.
Junior Leah Reymann said, “I was just laughing, because there’s no words for what happened in the last two weeks.”
Shakerite editors Daniel Carroll, Liam MacGilvray and Isabel Siegel wrote this story. Eighth-period Media Literacy students El Braunsdorf, Ezra Epstein, Chase Thompkins, Gabe Moulthrop and Vaughn Ullom and Journalism I reporter Emma Barker contributed.
