During fifth period today, the fire alarms went off in GHS, scaring multiple students and teachers while they waited for further instructions on how to proceed. During this time the blaring of the fire alarm never stopped and the deafening screeches continued for longer than most faculty and students were expecting.
“The maintenance crew was running a test that they didn’t believe was supposed to set the fire alarm off,” GHS Principal Todd Mueller said, “That’s why they didn’t tell us about it.”
Before confirmation of this test, rumors spread of there being a real fire somewhere in the building, while others questioned if it was a prank. At the time, temps were under 20 degrees and a majority of students were uncertain whether they would be allowed to go to third lunch.
“I was really scared, and I, like, jumped out of my seat,” junior Emma Brophy said. “I thought it was real, because they hadn’t come on the intercom for a while, like, they never said anything about it.”
During a normal fire, or fire drill, administration usually gets on the intercom a couple seconds after the fire alarm sets off. However, in this case, it was different as many students at GHS may have noticed.
“The fire alarms let us know that there is something going on because they go off so much,” Mueller said, ”That’s why you guys are taught to only leave when we come on and say ‘Please evacuate the building.’”
The last time that GHS had anything close to a fire was when a small, contained flame was started in a science classroom. Since then, we have had tests and drills several times a year.
“You can’t shut it off because it is in the middle of a test, which is why it ran longer than what it should have,” Mueller said.
