Two incidents in two days lead to evacuations, confusion on campus

PHOTO: A fire erupted in the robotics building in the M-wing on campus on Monday afternoon. No students or faculty were inside the building when the fire broke out.

By Sneha Budhathoki

BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

Two incidents disrupted classes at Davis High on Monday and Tuesday this week. Students evacuated once on Monday due to an active fire in the M-Wing on campus, and once more on Tuesday due to a reported bomb threat on campus.

The reported bomb threat on Tuesday was deemed not credible after investigation by the Davis Police Department, but the disruptions on campus currently leave students and faculty facing uncertainty.

Fire erupts at Davis High and disrupts athletics, college and career activities

On Monday April 20, at approximately 3:20 p.m., a fire broke out in the robotics building in the M-wing at Davis High. 

Students and staff promptly evacuated the campus for the remainder of 7th period, and students were permitted to leave campus when the final instructional bell rang at 3:30 p.m. However, there was still some additional confusion for students surrounding afterschool activities such as sports practices.

“I think (the fire) definitely puts us a day behind because normally, try-out clinics take around 4 days before the actual try out date, but the coaches have a plan for sure,” junior cheerleader Sarah Zhu said. 

The men’s varsity volleyball team’s senior night that night was also cancelled and later postponed to Thursday, leaving players distraught.

“I wasn’t sure if they were going to be able to reschedule the senior night and that was our last home game, so I was worried.” senior Cole Abrams said. “(We were) mainly feeling distressed (…) especially the seniors.”

Buses such as the UNITRANS T-line and the district school bus for IDD and other disabled students, faced a delay in their leave, with the T-line not being able to exit for nearly 10 minutes.

At 3:37 p.m., administrators and staff instructed the remaining students on campus to leave and return home. Students and staff were still prohibited from re-entering campus to retrieve their personal belongings from campus or inside classrooms.

At approximately 5:45 p.m., the Davis Fire Department gave the all-clear, and the campus remained closed until Tuesday. Students who left their personal belongings on campus were allowed to retrieve their belongings on Tuesday morning starting at 8:20 a.m.

DHS administration, teachers and staff held a meeting the following morning before the start of the school day regarding the incident. Students in their 2nd period classes were informed what happened regarding the incident on the account of robotics equipment and how the situation was promptly handled. 

Although it wasn’t closed off before 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, the M-building is now entirely closed off. Students now face alternative routes to their classes, or if they had a robotics and engineering class, will relocate to a new classroom.

Second evacuation further confuses students and disorients school instruction

On Tuesday April 21 at 1:02 p.m., just before 6th period, the emergency alarm went off for a second time. And the only message teachers initially received from administration was “Evacuate.”

Once it was made known that there was a reported bomb threat on campus, staff and students were promptly evacuated off campus either onto the track or by the Veterans Memorial Center. 

At 1:19 p.m., everyone was promptly evacuated further from campus. Some students who were evacuated to Community Park spent the remainder of 6th period at the Rainbow City playground.

At 2:10 p.m., just four minutes before 6th period ended, DHS was given the all-clear. The Davis Police Department determined that the threat was not credible, and all students were dismissed from their classes for the remainder of the school day.

DHS administration, teachers and staff held another meeting the following morning on Wednesday before school regarding the incident. Students were then immediately informed about the incident in their 3rd period classes, their first class of the day.