The quick evacuation of Charles Spencer High School is getting praise from the Grande Prairie Fire Department. When the fire alarm was pulled Tuesday morning, all staff and students filed out safely and waited in the parking lot until given the all clear to go back inside. Platoon chief Steve Larsen stresses the importance of knowing what to do when there is an emergency.
“We were really pleased to see on scene, like any time there is an alarm going, that people exit the building. That frees everything up for the fire department to mitigate any problems inside the building.”
In this case, a roll of toilet paper had caught fire in one of the washrooms, but very minimal damage was done. No injuries were reported and people were outside for less than an hour on a seasonably warm day.
Larsen credits mandatory fire drills for getting people prepared at school, work, or at home. RCMP are investigating what started the flames.
