The Upper School community evacuated to Ted Slavin Field after the fire alarm rang throughout campus Sept. 15. Smoke detectors in Feldman Horn 204 activated the school-wide incident after Math Teacher Andrew Theiss and a student used a laser engraver for the student’s senior independent study project. They were using different materials to test the engraver, which had only been used once before. Theiss and the student were cutting a piece of wood with the laser when the fire alarm began.
Theiss said using the laser engraver on the wood created more smoke than other materials.
“We cut some cardboard and then we thought we were ready for a more powerful material,” Theiss said. “We decided to use wood and we cut a tiny piece, but there was substantially more smoke in the room. We did a couple cuts [in the wood], testing out the laser and adjusting its focal length.”
Upper School Plant Manager Ed Wormald said the security team knew there was no live fire soon after the alarm rang but the school used the opportunity to practice an evacuation.
“Based on the fire alarm pulsations, we were able to pinpoint exactly where on campus there was an issue,” Wormald said. “Security quickly assessed that it was not an actual fire, but the evacuation had already started. We decided to continue the evacuation even though we knew the students were technically safe.”
Wormald said the students knew how to respond during the evacuation, and it was a valuable experience for sophomores who had not yet experienced a school-wide fire evacuation drill at the Upper School.
“It is nice to know that the training from the Middle School quickly applied here at the Upper School and that the existing juniors and seniors knew what to do so the sophomores could follow suit,” Wormald said. “Even though it was an inconvenience, it was a necessary inconvenience and it all turned out well.”
Maria Terroba ’28 said that, as a sophomore, the experience taught her what to do in future evacuations.
“We all left the classroom, but we did not know what to do,” Terroba said. “We quickly figured out where to go because we saw the older students going down to the field and the deans were holding up signs saying where to stand. It was helpful because now we have experienced an evacuation once and will know what to do next time.”
Jackson Sunwoo ’27 said he was on the field when the alarm rang and seeing students walking down to the field confirmed for him that there was a fire evacuation. Sunwoo said that, in the current climate, other types of school-wide emergencies have become more of a reality.
“Even though it was a fire evacuation, the chances of a lockdown feel a lot more real,” Sunwoo said. “In elementary school, we practiced lockdown drills but it did not seem like something that would actually happen. Now, when we practice active shooter drills in school, the community seems much more fearful. It is something that can actually happen.”
