As you might have already known on Tuesday March 9, 2010 DaVinci had a practice fire drill. The practice drill was to check how our school alarms were working, and to see if everything was in order.  In about ten minutes the alarms were ringing.  People from the fire inspection were going around the school checking if the alarms were working.

Mr. Gonzales said “We had to check the smoke alarms, and the air ducts to see if they were working and they were. It took an hour and a half out of my time when the guys from the fire inspection were here. I’m in charge of the old building also and everything in the old building is made manually." 

The staff announced over the intercom about the practice drill before they did it.  They said that it was practice and that no one needed to go outside. So they warned everyone just to be prepared, but when it did happened it was so loud that some classes ended up going outside to finish their lessons.

Korie Gardner said “It was so loud that I jumped, it was also hard to open the door when I had my fingers in my ears."

Not everyone had problems with the practice drill, however. They just ignored it and went with their work. Others thought that it was so loud that it messed up their concentration.

Jamie Blackler said, “It didn’t affect me because I’m use to the noise because I go to a lots of concerts.”

Mr. Donaldson said, “We were testing the system. We have to check this every year, and that’s why the fire inspection guys were here. We checked the control panels, sprinklers, fire system, and if the fire extinguishers were up to code. We test this often but never when the kids are in the building. There will be another fire alarm soon to see how fast the students evacuate the building, and also an earthquake test, and an intruder test.

"Why are these tests important?" you might ask. Well just think about how they prepare you if an actual fire happens, and helps you to know where the closest exit is in the building. It also helps to know if our school has a good safety system. So just be prepared to soon hear another fire alarm, and know they are there to keep us safe.