The staff and students at Bridgeport Exempted Village School District were ready when the alarm rang Oct. 11 for a fire drill. Within minutes, the entire student body of more than 800 students evacuated the district building. They assembled in good order in the parking lot that foggy morning.
The district conducts a fire drill each month, but administrators threw a few curve balls this time to simulate the uncertainties they might see during a real emergency.
Principal Jack Fisher said the variables included blocking an exit, with administrators informing the evacuees there was fire barring that way out.
“The goal of this fire drill was to practice our procedures, but also simulate some real-world scenarios where things don’t always go smoothly and perfectly,” he said. “You have a plan, but sometimes you may have to adjust and obviously use a different exit, certainly given if there was a fire in that area.”
Administrators also removed some students before the drill, simulating a child who might be unaccounted for during a genuine emergency.
“That also ensured that we’re going through the process of identifying that we have all the kids, and we know who we’re missing if we’re missing a kid. It was valuable for us to practice,” Fisher said. The teachers immediately notified administrators and the resource officer of any missing students. “I would definitely say it was successful.”
Fisher reviewed the results.
“When you have these emergency situations, life doesn’t always go smoothly, and we want to make sure we are practicing procedures to account for that.”
Middle School Principal Anne Haverty Lawson agreed.
“They did great.”
Haverty Lawson said when teachers evacuating their students saw the expected exit was blocked, they reacted quickly and took alternative routes.
“They immediately turned and went the other direction, because you know that you need to go out the closest door. That’s why we did that modification, because you don’t know where the fire’s going to be. You’re doing a fire drill because of a potential fire.”
She said she was also impressed by the teacher’s attention in keeping track of their students.
“Our teachers and staff are doing attendance properly,” she said. “You need to be able to account for every one of those students, and you need to know who’s absent and who is not absent.”
Afterward, the first responders from the Wolfhurst Fire Department spoke with Fisher and Haverty Lawson.
Fisher said continued practice will keep teachers, staff and students familiar with the procedures.
“We always want to try to improve,” he said. “Everything went pretty smoothly.”
Fire drills are planned by the school district’s safety team, which includes community members and school board members, as well as fire and police officers.
