On Thursday, Feb. 1, Decatur High School (DHS) students were evacuated from the school building due to a fire alarm being triggered during second period. Students and staff throughout the third and three point five floors complained of an unpleasant scent in hallways and classrooms. “The whole class smelled like gas. We opened a window to try and help but it didn’t do anything and everyone started to get light headed,” said DHS student Addie King. Some classes were first moved into the cafeteria before the school was evacuated.
Students were ushered into the bleachers on the football field and held there for about 40 minutes before being permitted back into the main building.
A similar incident occurred on Monday, Feb. 19. The fire alarm began to sound during third period and the school was cleared, and a gas scent was noted again. “I first noticed the smell when the fire alarm happened and we were evacuating the building,” said Brandon Perkins, a DHS teacher located on the third floor.
Later that day, Principal Duane Sprull sent out an email to DHS staff explaining that both incidents were due to failures of separate rooftop energy recovery units (RTUs), on the third and second floors respectively. Additionally, it was noted that a “prank device” was discovered during the time of the second evacuation that may have contributed to the scent. He ended the email by assuring that both matters are being addressed.
We have reached out to the City Schools of Decatur district maintenance manager for further details regarding the incidents, but have yet to hear back yet. As of now, it is still unclear to the public what the cause of the RTU failures was or what the future steps for prevention are.
