Evacuation Caused by Smoke in Auto Tech

Students sitting in first hour this morning were surprised to hear the fire alarm, and teachers were confused as to why their lessons were being interrupted. About halfway through first hour the smoke detectors outside the automotive technology room went off, causing to school to have to evacuate.

In auto tech class, the students tried to start an old four-wheel ATV with a two stroke engine and ended up setting off the alarm. A two stroke engine is run on a combination of oil and gas, and when the engine was turned on it put off a lot of smoke because of the oil being burnt. It had not been turned on for a long time, which only added to the smoke.

Not knowing that there would be that much smoke, the class left both doors closed. When the smoke started, they opened the door to the outside and the classroom door, thinking that the air from the hallway would push the smoke outside. However, the wind was blowing into the room, sending the smoke into the hallway where it set off the alarm.

“There’s no smoke sensors in the auto tech room because typically there’s smoke in there,” senior Cole Hogan said. “So, it wasn’t a problem when it was contained in [the auto tech room], but once it escaped into the hallway it set off the smoke detectors.”

It was only a couple minutes before the faculty said it was okay to go back inside and resume class.

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