The fire alarm went off on the first day of school yesterday, August 19, during fourth period, caused by the construction on the 700 wing that houses the science classes. The workers were installing the new air conditioning unit and when the roofing process created smoke, it triggered the alarms in the building.

Although there was no fire, firefighters arrived at the school after the alarm went off. While the school has the ability to intercept the call sent to the station if the alarm is determined to be false, the administration was initially unsure about the scope of the problem.

“When there’s a real alarm and we can’t immediately determine that it’s a false alarm, [the firefighters] come,” Assistant Principal Galen Rosenberg said. “Given the circumstances, there was actual smoke… so we had to make sure.”

There was no danger to students and staff; no one reported anything strange or noticeable in regards to fire hazards or other potential dangers.

“The construction workers recognized that that was the cause of the alarm and so they told us,” Rosenberg said. “They promised it wouldn’t happen again… that was the last day of roofing.”