Evacuation grants early dismissal

The high school was evacuated and an early dismissal was called on the rainy afternoon of January 14. During third lunch period, smoke was discovered expelling from the heating vent in science teacher Adrienne Gagnon’s classroom.

Office secretary Theresa Sarrazin announced the evacuation over the intercom system at 11:50am and after the evacuation was complete, Principal Diana Bonneville made the decision to find shelter for the students. Substitute teacher Karen Barr said, “Poor weather was the factor that caused a lot of issues- and that lunch was in effect.” The students were not happy about the conditions either, according to senior Kerri Sexton. She said “My feet were chilly and by the end they were literally like puddles.” The temperature was below 40 degrees at that time according to the report on weather.com.

Senior Anna Hart was in the second cafeteria when the evacuation was called. “It was crazy. Everyone heard evacuation and was trying to get out but no one had their jackets.”

The smoke in Gagnon’s classroom was caused by a burst water pipe above the heating vent. Gagnon believes that the water in the pipe dripped onto the heater and that is what produced the smoke. She said the problem was fixed and a new part was ordered and has been installed. When the incident first happened, she said “I didn’t think it was a big deal, because something similar happened last year in Mr. Masenior’s classroom. But I knew I still needed to asses the situation properly.” Protocol for teachers is to dial the emergency  number 3-3-3-3 on the classroom phone in order for the main office to properly alert everyone in the building as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Barr pointed out that the intercom speaker was not loud enough for it to be heard by the students at lunch. Barr was on lunch duty during the incident and noticed how quiet the speaker was. Hart said that she heard the evacuation call from a teachers walkie-talkie and the intercom announcement was muffled by the noisy cafeteria. “One thing we never planned for was during lunch,” said Gagnon. No evacuation drill has been performed this year during a lunch period or during the switching of classes.

After students were out of the building, attendance was taken by teachers, and everyone was accounted for at approximately 12:05 p.m., according to the account of events written by Sarrazin. At that time, the decision was made to call an early dismissal due to the wet conditions.

Shortly after, walkers and those with a car in the student parking lot were released and arrangements for buses were made. A recorded call by Superintendent Nick Young went out to over 700 families. “The phone system was down upon the arrival back to school, so Young made the call from the Town Hall,” said Sarrazin. Parents were made aware as quickly as possible. Sarrazin said, “we got the call out as soon as we could, but we couldn’t compete with all the students using their phones and texting out the situation.”

At the end of the day, no one was injured and there was no fire damage to the building.