Fire alarm evacuations were the real deal
Posted March 17, 2022
Staff Editor
The Tuesday, March 1 and Wednesday, March 4 fire alarms were not drills, but the real deal.
Every student had to evacuate all buildings on March 1. The cause of that fire alarm was steam from the espresso machine in Dee’s Cafe. The heat sensor in the cafe was too close to the machine. That and the lack of airflow triggered the alarm. There was no fire or damage and the sensor has been updated and replaced. Many of the campus fire/smoke sensors are photosensitive, so steam, dust, and smoke can trigger those alarms.
“The administrative team will follow up with the Dee’s Cafe teacher and personnel to ensure that this hopefully doesn’t happen again,” said assistant principal Jen Buscher.
When administration tried to locate which sensor had been triggered, the panel indicated it was in the “Security Office.” In turns out that Dee’s Cafe used to be the old Security Office, so the cafe crew did not know a sensor even existed in their space.
This fire alarm and evacuation on March 4 was caused by a sodium reaction in room S11 during a lab in Anatomy and Advanced General Science, teacher Rebecca Karki’s 7th period class. The demo she prepared outside called for solid sodium to be put in water. Karki was moving the sodium for the next period in the carrying container that was also filled with mineral oil for transport.
For ease, she changed to a bigger container, which had a small amount of mineral oil left over. She added more oil, then added the sodium piece when the reaction occured. To slow the reaction, Karki moved it into a larger lab container, but it didn’t stop. The heat caused the sodium to ignite. She then smothered it with a fire blanket, evacuated her students, then used the fire extinguisher.
“All students were evacuated appropriately,” said the assistant principal Joe Tally. “The teacher responded appropriately and no injuries were sustained.”
Security officer Michael Teague was notified before the fire alarm went off. The older mineral oil's possible degradation into a small amount of water most likely caused the reaction.
“Students reacted great and listened to instructions to evacuate quickly,” said Karki. “They were very supportive during the incident.”
Fire fighters checked the room, removed the container, and gave the clear for everyone to return to class, except for S11. It was aired out and the remainder of 7th period was conducted in S10. Karki’s 8th period was conducted in S8.
“Admin reacted quickly and cleared the building and our custodial staff did a wonderful job cleaning up after the fire extinguisher,” said Karki. “It was an accident which is never fun, but every part of our system seemed to work with our training to make sure that it didn't become a horrible accident”
The protocol for a fire is relatively simple. When a fire alarm goes off, all students and staff inside the building need to evacuate the building to designated areas. Teachers should grab their safety protocol booklets, their laptops, keys, and attendance sheets. All teachers are responsible for their classes while outside. The school is required by law to conduct fire drills at least once a month.