Students evacuate to the football field while following their teachers’ instructions. They stayed on the field for about 15 minutes to ensure their safety before returning to class.
On Feb. 23, an electrical issue in the U-wing prompted a brief campus evacuation and led to the closure of the U-wing and T-wing.
The issue became apparent during the second period of the day, when smoke was observed coming from a vent in classroom U22. The source of the smoke was later revealed to be a small fire caused by an electrical issue.
“District maintenance has reported that the smoke was caused by an older HVAC motor,” said Principal Gay Buckland-Murray in an email sent out to students and parents.
Students in room U22 were instructed to leave the classroom after a few minutes due to the smoke, and students in nearby classrooms were instructed to continue their work, according to Lila Haven, a Carlmont junior who was in U22 at the time.
“My teacher, Mr. Engberg, went to the next room over and was helping Ms. Lu see what happened,” said Haven.
At the start of the passing period between second and third period, a fire alarm blared across the campus.
“I thought that it was just a false alarm at first, like maybe some random kids pulled it as a joke or accidentally set it off,” said Alina Robinson, a sophomore.
Students gathered on the football field with their third-period classes, as instructed by their teachers. Teachers and students discussed amongst themselves and shared the information they had.
“Carlmont students and staff are now being safely evacuated due to a fire on campus,” a message sent out on ParentSquare by the school said. “All students and staff are safe.”
Firefighters and police officers arrived and headed to the U-wing, where they worked to put out the fire, resolve the issue, and prevent damage.
Later, at 10:45 a.m., approximately 15 minutes after everyone was instructed to gather at the field, students and teachers were dismissed and told to resume class as usual.
Teachers with classes in the S-wing, T-wing, and U-wing, however, were instructed to check their emails for further information. Later, an announcement was made that classes in these buildings would be held in the Performing Arts Center (PAC).
In the afternoon, another announcement was made that all teachers and students were free to return to their classrooms and resume all activities.
As a result, numerous teachers in the T-wing and U-wing were forced to postpone or cancel their planned activities for the day. Despite this, many were ultimately just glad that their students were safe.
“My class was disrupted, but I was glad that all students knew where to go,” said Maria Robinson, a Spanish teacher at Carlmont.
Students, on the other hand, had varied reactions to the alarm. Some were upset about leaving their classes, particularly students participating in a Chinese New Year activity.
“I want to go back to Chinese. I’m so over it. I was in the middle of playing games with my friends,” said Morgan Li, a sophomore, during the evacuation.
Others were less reluctant to miss a portion of class.
“I was very happy about missing class, but then immediately my spirits tanked when they said that we had to go back to third period,” Alina Robinson said.
Additionally, there was some confusion surrounding where students were supposed to go. Typically, students would meet with their fourth-period class during an evacuation, but this time they were instructed to group with their third-period class.
“I think it could have been a bit clearer, because I heard multiple people say that we were supposed to report to our third period teacher and others say our fourth period teacher,” Alina Robinson said.
Despite possible confusion during the event and mixed reactions towards the evacuation, the issue was resolved, and classes have returned to normal.
*This is a breaking news story. The article will be updated with more information.