Students and teachers huddled together for warmth outside in the 14 degree weather when the fire alarm went off at Staples at approximately 8:45 this morning.
“The sprinkler head and pipe for the room with the trash compactor burst because there was insufficient heat. It set off the sprinkler head, water went everywhere, and the fire alarm started,” Principal John Dodig said.
Dodig said that once the fire marshall arrived, he verified that the problem was the burst sprinkler, and students were allowed into the field house to seek refuge from the cold.
While suffering the brutal temperature, students and teachers were confused as word spread that it was not a planned fire drill. The situation intensified when three fire trucks arrived on the scene.
“I was worried because I thought there was an actual fire,” Robby Giannone ’14 said.
The cold, however, did not faze some students. “I brought gloves and a jacket, so I was prepared,” Elizabeth Mitas ’16 said.
Other students waited in discomfort because they were not nearly as prepared to be outside in the frigid temperatures for more than a few minutes. “It was very unexpected, and I didn’t bring a jacket,” Lindsay Kiedaisch ’14 said.
Students and teachers were let into the field house after approximately 15 minutes outside, and they waited in the field house for another five minutes before being released back to their period 8 classes.
