Series of fire alarms bring issues of safety to the spotlight
Over the course of the past few weeks, fire alarms have become part of the fourth and fifth period routine. Since early October, there have been four evacuations due to sounding fire alarms — three of which were unplanned.
The first alarm of the series took place during fourth period on Oct. 14 when the smoke from the kitchen barbecue set off the smoke detector. Students were evacuated from their classrooms, but administration and custodians swiftly took care of the problem.
A second incident occurred during fifth period when the fire alarm rang in response to the steam from the showers in the girls’ locker room.
The third fire alarm went off again during fifth period when the dust in the heating vent caused the duct detectors to shut down. The custodians found mechanical defects that made the smoke detectors too sensitive to smoke and steam. However, for their own safety, students still had to leave the classrooms.
Using a panel in the main office, administration pinpointed the location of the smoke detector that sounded the alarm. They then sent members of the administration and facilities department to the suspected location to examine the potential fire.
Although the fire alarms cut into instructional time, administration is satisfied that they ensured the safety of students. It was necessary to be cautious, they argue, as there have been four actual fires at the school in the last three years.
"They are not all false alarms," Facilities Manager Chris Kenney said. "This is real, and you have to do the exact procedure no matter what because it could have been a full out fire."
The fire alarm sounded for yet another time on Oct. 29 during fifth period. After so many evacuations, this scheduled drill received a practiced response from the students. Even as students idly waited to return to their classrooms, fire marshals examined the procedure so that should the students of MVHS ever encounter an actual fire, evacuations would simply be routine.
