When students returned to school on Monday after a week long break to recover from Hurricane Irma, the fire alarms roared. Most students believed the fire was fake and continued to walk into the school until they heard sirens approaching. Everyone then evacuated quickly to the football field and waited.

An air conditioning unit’s motor failed in the English hallway and produced smoke while the air was blowing it, causing it to appear as a fire. In order to take precaution, all students and staff evacuated immediately. While the fire department inspected the scene, the district’s air conditioning maintenance staff made their way to the school. They were able to get the unit shut off and the motor has been replaced.

“As any principal would feel [in the situation], I felt  bad for the kids and bad for the staff because it’s an unexpected event. You plan for the worst and prepare for the best,” Principal Robert Bhoolai said. “I think my staff and students responded very well.”

After an 11 day break due to hurricane Irma, the fire alarm did not help in a smooth transition back to school.

“I mean, we were off for a week and a half due to a traumatic event that came through our area,” Bhoolai said. “…To have an unexpected fire alarm go off and have to evacuate immediately and report to the areas we are supposed to report to, I felt very proud as the principal that my staff and my students know what to do when they face an emergency on this campus.”

Students finally returned to class at 7:45 and school began to function normally.