Faulty Fire alarms?

by Vinny Roca You may have noticed the firefighters going around the schools for the past few weeks and wondered what they are doing at our school. The reason was that our fire alarm system was down and useless during the past weeks so firefighters stood guard in our hallways, protecting us, while at the same time receiving hefty overtime dollars. The reason for the malfunction was a fire in the school around three weeks ago. With the fire came many rumors. One student, who chose to remain nameless, told the Buzz he heard that, “Dr. Chen caused the fire.” Another student told the Buzz that, “Someone told me a girl left a curling iron in the bathroom…or was it a hair straightener.” However, the rumors were in this case only rumors. Mr. Panagoulias explained that there was no fire, but rather, “A sprinkler head malfunctioned in a food storage area of the cafeteria.  This caused a technological malfunction of the control panel in the main office and loss of alarm communication in parts of the building.” In the end, the truth, like almost always, turned out to be less exciting than the rumors. Nevertheless, the malfunction has cost the town a great deal of money in both paying the overtime of the firefighters and fixing the sprinkler system. How is the system working to date? Mr. Panagoulias stated that, “The control panel in the main office has been replaced and all systems have been tested.” The random fire alarms are over and the fire fighters have left.