Multiple Fire Alarms At South Brunswick High Don't Work

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — During a routine fire drill this past Friday morning, it was discovered that multiple fire alarms at South Brunswick High School were not operational.

The fire drill was held at the high school at 1:30 Friday afternoon, however, it was immediately discovered that multiple fire alarms did not sound. Superintendent Scott Feder said he did not know off the top of his head how many were out, but at least one teacher said it was about half that were not working.

"This is why we test and thank God this was discovered during a drill," said Feder.

The school was evacuated and the South Brunswick Fire Marshall was called in, who made the decision that school could stay in session Friday as planned. "Fire monitors" were put in place, which are staff equipped with walkie-talkies who patrol the building in case of smoke or fire. However, once classes were done for the day Friday afternoon, the district canceled all evening activities and meetings, and shut the high school down for emergency repairs.

By Monday, all the fire alarms on the second and third floors were operational and only the first floor remains out, the superintendent confirmed to Patch. There was some type of problem with the electrical panel and that replacement part is coming Tuesday, Feder said. The fire monitors are still in place on the first floor of the high school Monday.

SAT testing took place Saturday morning at South Brunswick High, as scheduled.

High school principal Peter Varela sent out the following letter to parents about the issue:

Parents,

I wanted to share a situation that arose this past Friday, 12/1/17. When going through a routine fire drill at the High School, the alarm panel had a malfunction. Upon this malfunction, the Fire Marshal was called to come to help us assess the situation. Working together (police, fire and school officials) with support of the alarm technician, the system was put back into operating mode. Until that time, the building was closed as everyone needed to make sure the system was working before having people back in the building. The good news is that we were able to complete a fix to the system and SAT testing, that was scheduled for Saturday, went off without a hitch and school opened as scheduled today.

The panel is being replaced this week and until then we have met with the fire marshal to ensure that the building is completely safe and that we of course are meting all fire codes and expectations. There is nothing that comes close to outweighing student and staff safety, which is why we have taken every safety precaution with the guidance and support of our South Brunswick Fire Marshal.

Even though no change in anything for the High School has occurred, we still wanted to share this information with you.

Thank you and if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me.
We appreciate your continued support!
Go Vikings!
Peter Varela