Fire alarms cause little disruption

A broken sprinkler caused a fire alarm today at 11:58 AM, and again at 1:38 PM.

Students and staff waited outside in light drizzle while fire officials confirmed building safety after the first alarm. The building was reopened at 12:40.
Vandals broke the sprinkler in a third floor girls' bathroom, causing some flooding but no major damage.

Since the alarm came a few minutes after exams were finished for the day, most students simply went home as planned.

Repairmen "from Central Office are in the building," announced the office at 1:00, and "business carries on as usual within the building."

At 1:38, alarms went off again, quickly followed by an announcement telling staff and students to ignore the evacuation message. The alarm system's lights and recorded messages turned on and off intermittently as maintenance workers tried to fix the problem.

A search of previous Silver Chips fire stories this year turned up the following fire alarm-related stories:

• three accidental "pulls," or activations of hand-pulled alarms
  
• five alarms caused by the same faulty sensor (which has since been replaced)
  
• two planned drills, and
  
• two fires set in trash cans by vandals
  

Today is the second exam day this school year that has been shortened by a fire alarm.

A reward is available for anyone who can provide information to the SGA or administration about the person or persons responsible for the vandalism.