An unexpected fire drill interrupted B lunch on January 29th. The fire alarm activation presented a new challenge to Edgewood staff as students were eating lunch.

Assistant Principal Vanden Eynden was encouraged by the reaction to the unexpected alarm. 

“It was not a problem, however, it was the first time we had conducted a drill during a lunch period,” Vanden Eynden said.   “Students in the cafeteria were evacuated to the bus parking lot, and their fifth-period teachers came down to take attendance.”

Sophomore Bharat Dhimal was surprised by the alarm, too.

“I was confused,” Bharat said. “I was inside the lunch room getting lunch food in the line when the fire alarm went off.” 

When the fire alarm was turned off, staff and students were allowed back inside the school. Since the alarm was activated on a Wednesday, Mr. Vanden Eynden and the administrators decided that the schedule would be changed from an Edgetime schedule to a regular bell schedule to compensate for the time lost.

“Because we were outside for 18 minutes, we didn’t want to lose that time in the lunchroom or in class, so we decided to cut Edgetime,” Vanden Eynden said.

The 18-minute-long drill was longer than normal because the EHS Administrators could not turn off the alarm and had to wait for the St. Clair Township Fire Department to turn it off. 

 “I would like to commend our students and staff for the quick action and safe measures they took. and commend the Trenton[sic] fire department for responding to the call quickly, and thank everyone for their flexibility in shifting back to a regular bell schedule,” Vanden Eynden said. 

Confirmed reports point to a faulty sensor in a room setting off the fire alarm. 

“We will meet as a building safety team to reflect on the drill in order to improve our procedures in the future,” Vanden Eynden said. “There won’t be any new procedures; however, I am impressed with students’ and staff’s ability to act quickly and safely during the surprise evacuation.”