Is it Getting Hot in Here?

Is it Getting Hot in Here?

By: Andy Belilos

Sentry Staff Reporter

Dozens of anxious students waited outside of Yorktown on February 22 as multiple fire trucks arrived. Yes, it is true, on February 22, a small fire started in an air duct above the band hallway area. While band and drama students waited outside of the school, firefighters went in with axes.

The fire occurred in a Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) unit on the roof of Yorktown High School above the music and drama wing. Arlington County Maintenance Director James Meikle is in charge of all things related to this fire, and he indicated that there was still an ongoing investigation on what caused the fire.

“The preliminary investigation points to a possible electrical wire malfunction, but we have expert HVAC specialists who are continuing to investigate the reason for the fire,” Meikle said.

Sophomore Bennett Maupin was at school, in the band room when the fire began. He explained that he was not really worried for his safety.

“The fire was in an air duct above the band hallway area. The smoke spread to the band room. We waited outside for a long time and about six fire trucks came. Honestly, I was more worried about all the expensive things in the band room getting ruined,” Maupin said.

Along with Maupin, many other students inside the band room noticed smoke in addition to the smoke detectors going off.

“People inside the building reported that they could smell odors and smoke detector devices alerted the Arlington Public Schools safety monitoring company who, in turn, alerted the Arlington County Fire Department,” Meikle said.

While Band Director Brian Bersh was not at school at the time the fire started, he woke up that morning to the sounds of the fire engines.

“I didn’t think much of it, but soon I was receiving messages from concerned community members, so I decided to head over to Yorktown to see what was happening,” Bersh said.

The Arlington County Fire Department put the fire out inside of the HVAC unit and cut into the roof around the unit to make sure that there was no fire in the surrounding area or the band room. As soon as they finished, APS started its own investigation.

Music and drama students did not need to worry about trouble with any of their belongings or equipment, as there was no damage outside of the air duct. However, the unit and the duct connected to the unit were both damaged by the fire itself and smoke.

“When I arrived at school, the firefighters had everything under control, and were in the process of cleaning the area. We were very fortunate that there was no damage and all of the instruments were okay,” Bersh said.

Maupin said that this is something that could happen basically anywhere and that this incident would not worry him going forward.

“This is one of those things that could happen anywhere and it’s best to be prepared,” Maupin said.

In order to prevent this from happening again, Meikle said that APS will implement any recommendations from the investigators and insurers.

“We have also arranged for experts to inspect and test all other similar units to ensure that no others have similar conditions that could cause another problem to occur,” Meikle said.

“In any case, it was a bizarre situation, and I just feel fortunate that no one was injured, the equipment is safe, and we’re rehearsing like we normally do in our beautiful band room,” Bersh said.

While nobody was expecting the mob of fire trucks on that fateful Saturday, everybody is just lucky that nobody was hurt and everything was safe.

 

Featured image by Jeremy Little

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