Trashcan fire near weight room

A small trashcan fire Thursday, May 5 was located by Safety Officer Mark Curran in the 110s hall near the weight room during 5A lunch. No evacuation was necessary, and no fire alarms were triggered.

Curran said that he noticed the smell emanating from the fire during a 5A lunch meeting on the third floor. "Hey, I know that smell. That's burning paper towels," he said, recalling his first response to the odor.

From the third floor, he went down to check the 210s bathroom, where there was "another trashcan fire recently," which had been dealt with by another teacher who dowsed the fire upon finding it. Ultimately, Curran located the fire on the first floor near the weight room and moved the garbage container outside. "[The paper towels in the trashcan] were just smoldering; there was no fire," said Curran. "It was still hot enough to melt the bottom of the [plastic] trashcan, though." Despite this, he said that it still did not generate enough heat or smoke to set off any of the fire alarms.

In most cases, the fire alarms should be pulled in the event of any fire. "The standard procedure is that if a teacher [or student] sees a fire, then they should pull the fire alarm or call the office [where the alarms will then be pulled], whichever is closest," says Curran.

Once pulled, the fire department is notified and the lead firefighter on the first firetruck to arrive generally takes charge. "If the fire alarm goes off, then we evacuate no matter what, and are not allowed to come back in until the firefighters say we can," he explained.

Under the circumstances, however, Curran says that there was no need for an evacuation. "If the fire is contained and is found by an official such as myself," says Curran, "then that precludes the evacuation." If the person finding the fire was unwilling or unable to deal with it, Curran said that he or she could pull the fire alarms. "Its a judgment call," he says.