After third hour today, during passing period, the fire alarms sounded forcing the entire building to evacuate, Sept. 10.

“It wasn’t a fire drill,” Mr. Charles Crouther, interim principal, said. “It was the real thing.”

The fire originated in the FACS hallway when a piece of lint caught on fire after a heater was turned on high, according to Mr. Crouther.

“I was just walking through the Commons trying to get to class when the fire alarm went off. I was like, ‘Is this a drill?’” Grant Eickel (11) said. “I knew it wasn’t a drill when we were sitting outside for an extended period of time, and I saw a Jimmy Johns car because someone had ordered food.”

The main priority was getting everyone to safety.

“I was in the lunchroom when the fire alarm sounded,”  Mrs. Jennifer Werges, Eureka Police Department, said. “At that time, the safety of the kids was first. Looking to see if they were exiting and doing what they were supposed to was first and foremost. It seemed like all the kids knew what to do, so it went very smoothly.”

Although the student body has never experienced an evacuation due to an actual fire, the process seemed to have gone well.

“I thought it went very smoothly,” Ms. Diane Lucas, FACS teacher, said. “The fire department handled it well. The faculty and staff did a great job of getting everyone out and then standing there and waiting so the firemen could do their job. We did good! All our practice paid off!”