On Jan. 17, a burst pipe in the entry hall of Carroll Senior High School and led to a full student evacuation. While students and teachers sought shelter from the cold in the Aquatics Center and Field House, administrators tackled the problem of the rushing water.
“The pipe that burst is connected to the fire suppression system – the sprinklers – so if there’s a fire, or a detection of smoke or fire, then the sprinklers up in the ceiling go off to suppress the fire,” principal Ryan Wilson said.
The release of water from the pipe automatically triggered the fire alarm system, leaving the administration team to decide whether or not to evacuate the building.
“Now, I’m in a position to say ‘ignore the fire alarm and everybody just sit tight and hold your ears’ or ‘we’re gonna evacuate the building,’” Wilson said, ultimately deciding to complete the evacuation.
“I don’t think we would’ve evacuated the building if the fire alarms had not gone off because of the cold, and there was no immediate threat, and it wasn’t part of our main water lines,” Wilson said.
With the help of the maintenance team, who were able to navigate the riser room, the administrators were able to shut down both the leaking water and the fire alarms, though not without difficulty.
“It’s kind of a chicken or egg sort of thing; do we cut off the water or the sirens and which one can we do first,” Wilson said.
Outside, teachers were able to quickly decide to move to the Aquatics Center and Field House, which are both separate buildings and therefore not connected to the main water lines.
“I was surprised because the messages we were getting were really vague, so I didn’t know if a pipe had burst in a classroom, or if there was extensive flooding… I knew because there weren’t sirens and things happening immediately that it couldn’t be too terribly crazy,” teacher Natalie Brown said.
While students were left unaware of the situation inside, many didn’t think much of it.
“I wasn’t that scared; I knew everything was going to be fine, I was just excited to miss class,” junior Alexa Rios said.
Though burst pipes are not common, this is not a new problem at Carroll Senior High School, particularly near the front of the school. Pipes have previously burst in both Assistant Principal Eddie Mormon’s office and in the theatre tech room.
“The attention that I’m attempting to draw to the maintenance department, and they are acknowledging, is that this is the third pipe that has burst in that portion of the building from freezing temperatures in the last five years,” Wilson said.
