False fire alarms disrupt learning

Students+wait+outside+for+the+all+clear+to+re-enter+the+school+after+a+false+fire+alarm+before+school.+There+were+multiple+false+fire+alarms+early+in+the+school+year.+

Students wait outside for the all clear to re-enter the school after a false fire alarm before school. There were multiple false fire alarms early in the school year.

Since the beginning of the school year, there has been a series of false fire alarms. These fire alarms have disrupted learning and caused the whole school to evacuate multiple times. 

So what is causing them? The simple answer is the natatorium and weight room showers. The first alarm went off at approximately 6:35 a.m. on August 25, because the Washington Township Swim Team was using the locker rooms after practice, getting ready for school. Following that day, there have been two more alarms triggered due to the same reason.

“There is a sensitive fire alarm next to the showers, above the sinks, in the boys locker room that is being triggered by the steam from the showers,” Athletic director Andy Elkins said. 

The steam blocks the flow of the current, mimicking smoke, and the high humidity creates water vapors inside the smoke detector, triggering the alarm. 

“The Director of Operations for MSDWT, Angela Britain-Smith, was contacted to put in a work order to get the alarm replaced as soon as possible,” Elkins said. 

In the meantime, PE classes are not allowed to use the pool. This prevents future interruptions during the school day with false alarms.

Even though the alarms have not yet been fixed, “It is important that we treat every fire alarm as real and not a drill,” Principal Evans Branigan III said.