False Fire Alarm Greets Students Before School
A faulty sensor set off the alarm and prompted evacuation of the high school
Students waited outside the high school after evacuating early this morning.
A false fire alarm interrupted zero period classes today.
The alarm went off before classes commenced at 7 a.m. and continued until 7:30 a.m., causing the cancelation of zero period classes such as yoga and weight training and the evacuation of the building.
No fire took place in the high school this morning.
The event disrupted schedules of students who arrived for zero period physical education class. “I don’t think I’ll have enough time to get settled and get showered now,” senior Greg Faulx said.
A junior class Student Council meeting was cancelled for a third time. “We will have to reschedule our meeting again after being rescheduled twice, and we will have to push it back and postpone until next week,” junior Molly Spring said.
According to an announcement Principal Jonathan Kuehnle made at 8:14 a.m., the alarm sounded because of a faulty sensor. He instructed teachers to check their email for a warning message that the alarm may trip again. “If it does, we’ll check it out. Please remain in your classes unless you hear an announcement stating otherwise,” he said. “We are safe. It’s the system at fault, and we’re in the process of fixing it,” he said.
In his email message, Kuehnle stated that security and custodial employees were “walking fire watch, just to be safe.” A second email sent at 12:20 p.m. stated that the alarm system was operating and standard procedures should be followed if an alarm were to sound.
Sophomore Sara Dina said her dad drove her and her sister to school. “Right as we drove into the parking lot, we noticed a bunch of teachers and students were just standing outside,” said Dina. “Then we noticed that the fire alarm was going off. My dad just dropped us off and we joined our friends.”
An electrical fire that sparked during sixth period last May sent students home early, so today’s event did not startle some students. Dina said, “At this point, we’ve had so many fires here that it’s just kind of routine.”
Investigations Budget Reporter Hilary Shakelton contributed reporting
