A joyful noise rose from the back-roads of Beacon: “School is closed tomorrow!!! Woooo!!!!”
A group of high schoolers were walking back from somewhere, or walking to somewhere else, when they celebrated the news. No robo-call had come in yet. No text. But in email, sure enough, there was Beacon City School District Superintendent Matt Landahl declaring a school closure for the high school only, due to a fire in the chemistry room that harmed no one. The robo-call and text came moments later

“Today, around 4:15pm, we had a small fire in one of the chemistry rooms at Beacon High School,” Dr. Landahl reported. “No one was hurt, and our staff and the fire department responded and contained the fire very quickly. Due to the need for cleaning, we are closing Beacon High School to students tomorrow, Thursday, October 24. High School staff will still report and Mr. Dwyer will be in contact with the staff shortly.”

The class field trip to Ellis Island the following day was still on schedule to go, as were after school sports games and the buses needed to transport students and coaches.

One student was at the Beacon High School when the fire trucks arrived to put out the fire. The student was attending the Girls Varsity Soccer Game behind the school in the bleachers. Below is an interview with the student.

ALBB: “You were there for the fire?”

Student: “Yeah.”

ALBB: “How did you know there was a fire?”

Student: “The fire alarm kept going off, and it wouldn’t stop. It was so annoying.”

ALBB: “So what did you do? Were you scared?”

Student: “No. I wasn’t scared. I saw the water come out of the fire hydrant.”

ALBB: “There is a fire hydrant by the bleachers?”

Student: “No, in front of the school.”

ALBB: “You went to the front of the school?”

Student: “Yeah. We went to watch. Poopy brown water came out of the fire hydrant.”

ALBB: “And then what happened? Was the water still brown when it came out of the hose? Did you see the fire fighters spray water into the school?”

Student: “No. The fire was inside. There was smoke.”

ALBB: “You saw smoke?”

Student: “No. We could smell smoke.”

ALBB: “Could you see the fire?”

Student: “Bro. It was a tiny fire. It was like the size of that plant.”
[motions to a small potted succulent]

ALBB: “Ok. So you saw no fire, you’re not sure what room it was in, but you smelled smoke, and the Girls Varsity soccer game continued.”

Student: “Yes.”