Shortly before the end of first hour on Wednesday, Liberty’s fire alarms went off. Students and staff alike were surprised, but assumed that it was either a drill, or a false alarm that would shortly end with an announcement over the intercom to stay put.

Instead, the announcement was to evacuate the school as practiced in numerous past fire drills. At the time, it was assumed that there was an actual fire in the building.

Shortly after all students and staff were evacuated, two firetrucks entered the parking lot through the left entrance.

“I personally think someone must have tripped the fire alarm and that’s why the firemen came to the building. Even though it was cold outside, I was prepared with my Liberty swim and dive jacket as always,” junior Eric Hudson said.

After a few minutes of fire investigation, the call was made to re-enter the building. Once everyone was back inside, principal Edgar Nelson made an announcement confirming suspicions that the alarm was in fact false. He also stated that the firemen needed to reset the panel that controls the alarm and were looking for the keys to do so. Additionally, he instructed students to stay in their first hour until the panel was reset. At 8:30 a.m. the announcement was made for students to go to second hour.

Update: School officials have confirmed that the alarm was in fact false and caused by a dust collector machine in Mr. Labrot’s shop class room.

Stay tuned to lhstoday.org for any developments on this story as they occur.