The real story behind the fire alarms
By Mariam Syeda-Quadri and Sangeetha Srinivasan
On Tuesday January 28th and Thursday January 30th, the first period of the day was disrupted by loud blaring alarms. The fire alarm on Tuesday sent a flurry of rumors across the school. The students were outside for only about 20 minutes on both days before having to head back to class, but this was enough time to get their imagination rolling.
Some students believed there was an electrical wiring problem, which caused a small electrical fire in the gym/ locker area; some of them quoted their teachers. A couple students were discussing about a paranormal cause to the fire alarms going off. Another story related to the fire alarm was that a student fainted and the paramedics came to her aid, but it was just the fire engines coming as protocol to the scene. Others believed this was the annual senior prank. A student supposedly burned his or her QUEST packet.
The real ghost behind the fire alarms is the photo-sensor problem in the boy’s locker room and P wing. “Fire alarms detect anything which could resemble a fire,” said Ms. Smoot, “It could be caused by dust or water vapor. I put a work order in to make sure we get our sensors cleaned by maintenance.” While the official story checks out, there’s no need to rule out Casper just yet.
