Fire Drill Procedure called into question!

[Fex404 0]

01/30/07) NEW ROCHELLE - Procedure at a New Rochelle elementary school is being called into question after kids were forced out into the freezing cold without coats during a fire alarm.

A student at George Davis Elementary School reportedly pulled the fire alarm on Friday, one of the coldest days of the year. The school was evacuated and the children had no time to gets their coats. Parents say they were upset since the wind chill factor made it feel like it was below zero degrees that day. Some parents say it is impractical to have kids run out without their coats in the winter.

The school superintendent says proper procedures were followed. There is no word on whether they plan to implement provisions to prevent a future similar scenario.

**** I saw this on news 12 today and thought it was rediculous. How is the school supposed to know the difference -- and then wait while a fire could possibly be burning in a school. I understand that drills should not be done during this weather (like was done at Westchester Community College today) but this wasnt a drill in New Rochelle ------ Any thoughts/.????

Edited February 1, 2007 by Truck4

[Guest]

Oh come on, for gods sake this is rediculous. If there was a fire in the building would the parents want their children inside taking their time to put on the jackets hats and mittens, i think not! When those bells go off, you get out as fast as you can and stay out, no matter what the situation, jackets or not!!

[Guest]

Thats the stupidest thing I have heard all day. In a real life scenario there would be absolutly no time to get jackets exept for the fortunate ones who kept there coats with them. Grades K-5 about what?, over 100 kids a grade? Figure about 500-550 immature kids all together taking there dear old time fooling around in the halls taking it as a "joke". If this was a DRILL that was SCHEDULED the head of the school should have told teachers to let the kids keep their coats with them. If that had been a real situation come pick the kid up from school or somthing. That is ridiculous.....

What a discussion this is gunna be

Edited January 31, 2007 by NRFDTL11Buff

[Guest partyrock]

As long as there is a place for them to go once they get outside, the parents need to shut the F up.

[Guest]

This happened a few times when i was in HS, i remember once there was a few grease fire in the kitchen and we had to stand in the parking lot during a snow storm. I would rather be cold then burnt

[27east 19]

welcome to our PC world

[Porsha911gt3 8]

Why not make the kids wear their jackets all day long, cause theres always that "what if." It would save the school money for heat too, so everyone wins. The parents need a reality check, but common sense is not common in everyone.

[Remember585 815]

Reason # 135,421 why I hate the public. Get a grip!

[nycemt728 49]

Agreed!! Now, would i=I support not having any drills in the winter time as long as there enough drills in the spring and fall? Abselutely. If the principal fealt it necessary to hold a drill in winter, I would support an announced drill where students would have their coats ready so even thought it wasn't a surprise it still practiced the routine. HOWEVER, in this case, where it was obviously not a drill w/o confirmation of an actual emergecny, you don't screw around, you evacuate. Kudos to the prinicpal for sticking to their guns and safely evacuating the school.

[BIGRED1 71]

A student at George Davis Elementary School reportedly pulled the fire alarm on Friday, one of the coldest days of the year

It was a false alarm and a kid pulled it. maybe instead of bothering the school you should go talk to little Jimmy's mother and father and ask them why their son pulled the alarm? It's not the schools fault, it is the childs fault. i don't mean to sound like i hate kids but you can see that this was done by a CHILD. I am sure he just thought it could be cool or peer-pressure, he is in elementary school. It's not like the Principal woke up and said " man it's cold out today, we should have a fire drill!"

[22 Truck 6]

This happened a few times when i was in HS, i remember once there was a few grease fire in the kitchen and we had to stand in the parking lot during a snow storm. I would rather be cold then burnt

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Think I have you beat....winter snow storm, just got out of the pool from gym class, in the locker room drying off in my towel, when the bell went off. Let me tell you that's a new kind of "oh $h!+". A couple of idiots actually went out towels only...we sucked it up tho. Ofcourse, BS pull.

[eckyphats 0]

i bet some parent tries to sue that the school made their child sick or got frost bite or something!

[ajsbear 11]

This is just too much. If there was a fire the parents would complain the kids got out too slow. The alarm goes off you don't know if its real or false. You just get out, count the kids to make sure there all out. The parents shoud\ld just keep it shut. Get after the kid who pulled the alarm. Teach the kids why they should not fool around with pulling false alarms.

Yeah some kid now has the sniffles and some parent with threaten a lawsuit. What a world.

[Bunkers 0]

I am a resident of New Rochelle and went to that same elementary school. That makes me sick that those parents would have the nerve to say something.

What is this world coming to?

In ten years, you wont be able to breathe without someone suing you. Parents, loosen up.

[ltjay157 10]

I'm tired of how parents don't take responsibilities for their childs action. It's always find someone else to blame. At work when we get 911 open/abandoned lines & the officer gets to the house, turns out it's little Jimmy or Sussie playing with the phone. The parents don't understand or seem to grasp the concept of teaching their kids from right & wrong. There is only one school I'd blame for false alarms & that's one of the big daycare's in my town. We go there repeatedly for activated pullstations. I've told the manager of the daycare to install covers over the pull stations to help eliminate the false alarms but it's fallen on deaf ears. Has our society gotten soo bad that nobody has any sense of right or wrong?

[Guest]

THE DAVIS SCHOOL INCIDENT WAS A PULLED FALSE ALARM NOT A FIRE DRILL.

AS SOME MAY RECALL,NEW ROCHELLE HAS A SAD HISTORY OF SCHOOL FIRES -NEW ROCHELLE HIGH SCHOOL,ROOSEVELT SCHOOL AND TWO REAL GOOD JOBS IN BARNARD SCHOOL.

IT IS WISE TO GET OUT OF THE SCHOOL BUILDINGS ASAP AS OUR HISTORY IS NOT ALWAYS FALSE ALARMS BUT THE REAL DEAL.

IT WAS SAD TO SEE THAT THE KIDS WERE EXPOSED TO THIS WEATHER BUT WHAT CAN YOU DO,KIDS CAN ALWAYS WARM UP BUT THEY CAN'T UNBURN. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT RESPONDED IN 4.5 MINUTES AND AFTER MAKING SURE THE SCHOOL WAS SAFE AND GOT THE KIDS BACK IN QUICKLY.

COULD YOU IMAGINE IF THE SCHOOLS LET THEM GET COATS BEFORE LEAVING THE EVACUATION COULD BE TIMED WITH A CALENDER.

DAVIS SCHOOL IS IN THE MIDDLE OF A TOTALLY RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD,WHICH MAKES IT EVEN HARDER TO PLACE THE KIDS SOME PLACE WHEN THEY ARE EVACUATED.

WE HAVE ASKED THE SCHOOL FOLKS TO CALL THE NRFD ON OUR SEVEN DIGIT NUMBER AND EVEN GAVE THEM PHONE STICKERS TO USE AS SOON AS THEY HEAR THE FIRE BELLS IN ORDER TO GET A JUMP ON FD NOTIFICATION, AS WE KNOW THE PRIVATE ALARM MONITORING IS NOT ALWAYS THE QUICKEST, BUT WITH ALL THE MASTER DEGREES IN THE BUILDINGS NO ONE HAS BEEN ABLE

TO COMPLY WITH THIS,AND ONE OF THE COMPLAINTS WAS A LONG FD RESPONSE TIME. AS WE KNOW THE TIME IS LOST FROM THE TIME THE BELLS HIT, TILL FD DISPATCH IS ALERTED, FROM THEN ON IT WAS THE 4.5 MINUTES

[antiquefirelt 994]

NFPA 101 allows for schools to defer the required number of exit drills in inclement weather. If you need one per month you can conduct two a month in warmer months to prevent requiring the drill during poor conditions. Just like anything else you have to look at the greater good, the safety of the kids must come first. How cold was it? I know I'd be pissed if my kids were made to stay outside for a drill last week when the temp here never got above 10 F without the wind. Sure in a true emergency you have to suck it up, but how many of you huys cancel or modify your drill schedules for snow, rain or extereme hot or cold weather?

[bigfitz2004 19]

December 1, 1958 a fire broke out in a Catholic elementary school in Chicago, Illinois. That fire claimed the lives of 92 children and three nuns at Our Lady of the Angels school. If I was school superintenden I would use is deadly fire in U.S. History to make a point to the parents. That a FIRE CAN HAPPEN AT ANY TIME. we as a school District we need to be prepare. To me it is sad that parents complain about this. To me it look like the PERENTS does NOT CARE ABOUT THERE OWN KIDS SAFTY. We need to learn from the Past.

Edited January 31, 2007 by bigfitz2004

[Fex404 0]

NFPA 101 allows for schools to defer the required number of exit drills in inclement weather. If you need one per month you can conduct two a month in warmer months to prevent requiring the drill during poor conditions. Just like anything else you have to look at the greater good, the safety of the kids must come first. How cold was it? I know I'd be pissed if my kids were made to stay outside for a drill last week when the temp here never got above 10 F without the wind. Sure in a true emergency you have to suck it up, but how many of you huys cancel or modify your drill schedules for snow, rain or extereme hot or cold weather?

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*** I agree, the thing is that this was not a drill. A child pulled the fire alarm and the parents are complaining. I cannot find one excuse they could use....... Yes drills in the freezing temps is not needed, but the alarm was pulled and the faculty did not know why...... What do these ppl expect....

[antiquefirelt 994]

*** I agree, the thing is that this was not a drill. A child pulled the fire alarm and the parents are complaining. I cannot find one excuse they could use....... Yes drills in the freezing temps is not needed, but the alarm was pulled and the faculty did not know why...... What do these ppl expect....

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Whoops! Sorry I missed that part! In that case: TOUGH SH*T!! To do anything else but immediately evacuate should be criminal. That's a great way to trash all the years of Fire Prevention and exit drills taught to the kids.

We had a similar cold day alarm in December at a local elementary school, but they fully evaucuated and moved to a separated but adjoining school for shelter. We told the School that they had done exactly the right thing and that we were committed to responding and finding the cause as fast as possible to allow the kids back in.

[firecapt32 282]

Bigfitz 2004 great response- read the book"To Sleep with the Angels" by David Cowan Book details the Our Lady of Angels fire great reading for firefighters.

Not admitting my age but I do rememebr that fire well, believe it was that fire that set me into thinking about the fire service.

I was 11 yrs old and remember vividly the news coverage of the childerns bodies and the stories of how they died at their desks.

and the remarkable efforts of the Fire fighters and the Department trying to make the rescues. Still gives me thoughts today.

So haveing fire drills in winter is an ok thing with me rather be safe then sorry.

[Guest partyrock]

I didn't realize this till firecapt mentioned it, but the topic title incorrectly calls the incident a drill. if that is how it was described in the news, than it casts the entire incident in a different light. A kid pulled the alarm, that makes it an emergency until proven otherwise. Get the little ankle bitters out.

[mstrang1 213]

Let us not forget that 3 ADULTS were killed in Seton Hall because they were lacksadaisical about going outside for fire alarms.

While it is cold out these past two weeks or so, there is no snow on the ground, as in years past. Snow drills in winter with snow on the ground do have important aspects. One, are all of the emergency exits shoveled clear of snow? Many times fire exits are not cleared of snow right away, putting lives in danger. Secondly, with large amounts of snow, like in the heavy snow years of 96(?) and a couple years ago, all that snow is put in the same place students are supposed to assemble for a fire drill/alarm. What do we do now? Put elementary school children in the street? In the event of a long term incident, school buses and the like will have to be brought in to move/shelter students and staff. Will they be able to access the area with fire apparatus parked all over the place? These are just some of the concerns that winter weather puts on fires in schools.

[Guest]

"WE HAVE ASKED THE SCHOOL FOLKS TO CALL THE NRFD ON OUR SEVEN DIGIT NUMBER AND EVEN GAVE THEM PHONE STICKERS TO USE AS SOON AS THEY HEAR THE FIRE BELLS IN ORDER TO GET A JUMP ON FD NOTIFICATION, AS WE KNOW THE PRIVATE ALARM MONITORING IS NOT ALWAYS THE QUICKEST, BUT WITH ALL THE MASTER DEGREES IN THE BUILDINGS NO ONE HAS BEEN ABLE

TO COMPLY WITH THIS,AND ONE OF THE COMPLAINTS WAS A LONG FD RESPONSE TIME."

Why, oh why do we want any human being to remain behind to make a phone call, any phone call? The school responded as any fire department would want them to.

Get out, and stay out.

[Guest alsfirefighter]

This is a typical case of open mouth insert foot. Some of you are getting way to upset for something that is just public bull$hit. Isn't the first time that was said and it won't be the last. Also good pick up by someone with the "fire drill procedure" questioned. Another fine example of News 12 running a story without getting the proper technical background. How many times gang can we say to you to have a few firefighters on staff for such stories to give you the correct terminology and background before you run a dumb a** story such as this.

[PVFD233 68]

Oh come on, for gods sake this is rediculous. If there was a fire in the building would the parents want their children inside taking their time to put on the jackets hats and mittens, i think not! When those bells go off, you get out as fast as you can and stay out, no matter what the situation, jackets or not!!

Can't agree anymore

[Remember585 815]

This is a typical case of open mouth insert foot.  Some of you are getting way to upset for something that is just public bull$hit.  Isn't the first time that was said and it won't be the last.  Also good pick up by someone with the "fire drill procedure" questioned.  Another fine example of News 12 running a story without getting the proper technical background.  How many times gang can we say to you to have a few firefighters on staff for such stories to give you the correct terminology and background before you run a dumb a** story such as this.

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I stand by my statement... I still hate the public.

[Guest alsfirefighter]

I stand by my statement... I still hate the public.

I hear ya brother and I'm with you. You know I just looooooove soceity. lol.

[preemo16 1]

Hey Fex ... a question for ya.

I was wondering who you were blaming for the cold weather drills at WCC?