A Fire Alarm Fiasco

Fire drills are one of the most important safety procedures a school has. It teaches students the most efficient and safe way to evacuate a building during an emergency. However, what happens when these safety procedures begin to fall apart?

During the winter months of the school year, the fire alarm has seen a rather sudden increase in triggers of the alarm, whether accidental or purposeful, which the administration has deemed to be false alarms. At it’s peak, the fire alarm was triggered over three times over the course of a week, with two of the triggers being attributed to a faulty alarm being set off in the gym. 

These false triggers would occur during the school day, and without any warning. As students would slowly file out of the building, the fire department would arrive, making sure the school had no active threat. These situations would usually result in about 15 – 20 minutes of class time being taken away, which begs the question, how does this affect the time used for learning?

One 12th grade student provided their insight, stating that the alarms “...didn't really affect me that much.” However, “it was kind of confusing because we kept leaving and at some point it just got really annoying…” Another senior student acknowledged concerns that relate to constant fire alarm triggers. “I am a bit worried about the fire department’s trust in us (...) if an actual fire were to ever show up.”

However, students aren’t the only ones who are distracted by the alarm’s effects. Teachers are often interrupted in the middle of their lesson, with some classes missing most, if not all the lesson. According to an email sent out by Rick, the Assistant Principal for Special Education, many of the more recent alarms were triggered by a malfunctioning alarm found on the 2nd floor. While the root cause of the problem has been found, it still requires every student and staff member to evacuate the building until the fire department can confirm the source. 

Although the numerous incidents have seemingly decreased in the later months of the school year, it still begs the question: ‘If there ever was a real fire, would students be prepared to take it seriously?'