The smell of smoke was noticeable throughout the school during 7th hour Monday. There was no fire alarm going off, or even someone talking over the intercom. A fire truck showed up and three firefighters had made their way up to the 200 hall.
The firefighters talked to some teachers and even went into some classrooms. With further investigation and with the help of the fire chief, it was determined that the cause did not come from the school. It was a controlled fire about six miles away at Quail Ridge Park in Wentzville. Due to the direction of the wind, the smell of smoke had made its way to Liberty. This is what the firefighters suspected while they were looking over the building here on campus.
A controlled burn is the planned application of fire to a specific area under carefully managed conditions to achieve land management objectives. For further information on it, check out this link, https://www.stcparks.org/controlled-burns-a-complex-process/
“We do controlled burns once or twice a year, but it all depends on the wind pattern,” a worker for the Saint Charles County Parks said in a phone call. The worker declined to use their name in this story. “We had to make sure that the wind wasn’t going to damage the other trees and healthy areas. The one we had going on today lasted about two hours. During that time I even drove down to the Lake Saint Louis area and could see the smoke from there, so it makes sense that you guys could smell it.”
Students and staff noticed the campfire-like smell of smoke in classrooms around 1 p.m. during seventh hour.
The firefighters had visited ELA teacher Amanda Franke’s classroom. “It smelled like burnt hot dogs. I just figured someone was doing something in the science hall. I didn’t call them; I’m not sure why they came in,” Franke said.
Meanwhile, in the 200 hallway, Lillian Henry (10) noticed the smell.
“I was in English when we all started to smell it. It just smelled like a campfire to me, and then I just thought I was going crazy. Then about five kids stood up and yelled while looking out the window, ‘There’s a fire truck outside!’ that was when I thought something was seriously wrong,” Henry said.
