A small fire in the third floor boys bathroom resulted in a school wide evacuation today at around 10:45. Students and staff walked to the neighboring YWCA , but a gymnastics tournament in the field house left little room for the 1,800+ people trying to escape the subzero temperatures. “Some students were outside from 10 to 20 minutes,” Principal Ray Aponte said in an announcement following the incident.

“I had my coat so I was pretty prepared,” Senior Becky Norling-Ruggles stated. “There were a lot of people without coats and they were freezing. We huddled together for warmth.” Others took to their cars in an attempt to get out of the wind.

Firetrucks arrived about 15 minutes after the building was initially evacuated, and they cleared the building for re-entry shortly after. Students and staff were then allowed back into the building while announcements clarifying the hour and encouraging students to get back to class played on the loudspeaker. Aponte thanked the students for their cooperation during the event, but reminded them to, “Get back to work!”