Estevan Fire Chief Dale Feser is praising the response of Sacred Heart School/École Sacré Coeur, after members of the Estevan Fire Rescue Service were called to the school Monday just before 9 a.m.
When firefighters arrived at the school, they found there wasn’t any visible smoke or flame coming from the exterior of the building. Staff members had already evacuated students from the school.
A liaison person approached the fire department, indicating there was an issue with a duct detection device from the heating and air conditioning system.
“Knowing that all the students were safe, crews did make entry into the building and attended all of the mechanical maintenance areas, only to find no signs of fire, smoke or flame, or any visible heat signatures after using thermal imaging technology cameras to entirely sweep the building,” said Feser.
Crews expedited the process to get students back into the building as quickly as possible, and once the “all clear” signal was given, students were allowed back in with the assistance of teachers.
After a substantial amount of time combing the facility, it was found there wasn’t any reason for alarm, which meant a faulty detection device in the duct work system was the probable cause. The scene was turned back over to mechanical maintenance and supervisory staff of the school.
Feser said the location of the alarm and the timing was troubling, but the staff handled the situation well.
“They did an outstanding job of making sure that everybody was evacuated and accounted for, so then we could turn our attention to actually finding the cause of the alarm as opposed to ensuring that everybody is indeed safely outside of the building,” said Feser.
The fire department, along with members of the Estevan Police Service and Estevan Emergency Medical Services, were also called to a three-vehicle collision on Monday. No injuries occurred as a result and all vehicles were drivable after the accident.
