Every year, Pine View is required to undergo 11 fire alarms; we’ve experienced six thus far this year, which is on schedule and matches the amount we’ve had in the past. But how exactly do these fire alarms work — especially after they’re pulled?
Fire alarms consist of detectors for smoke, heat, and carbon monoxide. If they detect any of the three, the system will go off. School Resource Officer (SRO) Eugene Williams explained that this will trigger the alarm, which will go off and send a signal to the Safety and Security department part of Sarasota County Schools (SCS), alerting all students and staff on campus. Safety and Security verifies the fire alarm before calling emergency services.
However, in the case of a fire where the fire alarm doesn’t go off, then a student or staff member may pull the handle down on a manual fire alarm pull station, resulting in a triggered system. According to Williams, wire alarm pull stations are like switches — and when the switch is flipped, it will notify a control panel. This panel uses modern technology to identify signals sent from the pull station, which then triggers alarms to go off and identifies the exact location of where it was pulled.
Fire alarms should be pulled due to a real fire threat, but some schools across the country have experienced illegitimate fire alarms caused by students pulling the station falsely due to social media trends. According to high school assistant principal Lana Marcotte, no student has engaged in such behavior since the beginning of her work here.
However, if a student were to illegitimately pull the alarm, they’d be facing a lot of trouble — up to and including a criminal charge.
Williams said, “A person could go to jail and could be fined.”
Committing such behavior would be known as a SESIR (School Environmental Safety Incident Reporting) Infraction, specifically a Campus Disruption. The student would face an out-of-school suspension as well as a conviction of a first-degree misdemeanor, followed by a felony if they repeat this behavior. According to the 2022 Florida Statutes, this could result in time served in prison.
If there’s anything you can take from this story — don’t pull the fire alarm. It’s not worth the penalties you’ll face after.
A QR code to this article appears in print on Dec. 16, 2022, Sci-Tech, Page 5, of The Torch.
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