When a fire alarm goes off in a school, the usual emotions that come up may be along the lines of surprise or distress. At James Logan, however, the usual feelings are of the following: frustration, annoyance, irritation, etc. In dialogue, “Not again…” James Logan staff probably say.
Students are tired of the continuous ringing of the fire alarm. At first, people thought it was a coincidence, but after a while, it became a routine of walking to the field and back. After that, most teachers and students just ignored them. Charles Argentine, a ninth-grade biology teacher, explains that he feels that with how often the fire alarms have gone off, people may tune out the sound of it when there might be real danger. He said this could be a safety hazard. Students and staff are also very curious as to why the alarms have been going off so much in the first place.
At the start of the 2025-2026 school year, students and staff were welcomed with the sounds of the fire alarm for around the first three months of the quarter. Students were anxious, teachers were annoyed, and administrators were frustrated. On some days, the alarm would go off multiple times per day, leading to individuals coming up with many rumors about what could be the reason behind these alarms. Some people believe that it could be a student pulling the alarm or a student smoking in the bathroom, causing the smoke detector to sound. Others say it could just be broken.
Here’s what ninth grader Madison Bullard thought was the cause of the fire alarms: “I kind of thought some annoying kid was just pulling the alarms, or that it was just randomly going off because of some fluke. But it was, it was nice.” She said, but none of these rumors fit the timeline. If a student pulled the alarm, wouldn’t they have caught the kid already? There are security cameras in use. Also, the same thing if a student (or staff) were smoking. They would have been found guilty, and if the fire alarm was just broken, wouldn’t they have been fixed as soon as possible? All this speculation has led to only one possibility, and it all comes down to the newly built district kitchen.
At James Logan, there is a big district kitchen towards the back of the school. This kitchen is used to make the food that is then distributed throughout all the schools in the district. It is fairly new, and the alarms in the kitchen were overly sensitive to all the smoke from the cooking. This caused the fire alarms to go off up to five times every couple of days, even if they are just second-long sessions. Even though this problem has been fixed, it caused many teachers to feel frustrated, since they were frequently interrupted from their teaching by the screaming alarm. When the fire alarms kept going off, Argentine was observing in Mr. Lockwood’s class. He witnessed how the alarm disrupted the class and relayed both sides of his opinion on the alarm going off. “Part of me thinks, Okay, I’m not really in danger, and this is kind of a pain in the neck, but I also really genuinely believe that it is very important to take these things very seriously, and so we do need to get out and go to our designated areas. So that’s what we did. So with the first one, it was like, Oh, bummer. But let’s do what we need to do, and let’s go out there,” he said. Argentine understands that many feel there is no need for action when these alarms go off, since most times it is just a false alarm. But, he also sees the possible danger in not following the safety protocols.
Argentine also captures a picture of empathy. He describes how he was attentive to what the person accountable might be feeling. He said, “Somebody somewhere was having a really bad day who was involved with the part of the school that was setting, inadvertently setting out the fire alarm. And I was feeling really bad for them, that someone was accountable for this, and they were probably feeling very uncomfortable.” Many don’t think about the culprit’s feelings. The cooks in the kitchen are responsible for the alarms, but not entirely. The alarms were new and faulty, but have now been fixed.
Now, from a student perspective, Bullard felt that the alarm became an expected experience, after it happened many times already. She also felt that it was a break from the class and kind of fun. “After it became a routine thing, I was kind of expecting it, actually, and sometimes I would just think in my class, when the lesson was boring, please go off. Please go off. I know your schedule. Just go off,” she said. Many students see it as a chance to wander and go find their friends in the field, or go on their phones, even though we are told to leave everything behind in the classroom. Other students just see it as a boring event and just want to get back in the classroom.
Since the fire alarms have gone off so frequently, students and teachers now have the knowledge of what to do in an actual emergency. The alarms have caused accidental practices and drills for the students and staff, enhancing their capability to roll out to the field calmly and quickly. This added practice is good for the students, because many times there are not enough fire drills to get the students to know what to do. Many don’t know where to go or what to do until their teacher guides them.
Although it’s rare at James Logan, there was speculation that there was an actual fire on December 11, 2025. Bullard recalls that during the second period, the alarm went off for a really long time. Longer than usual. She also claims that she saw people from the fire department in the 200s. This caused students to believe that an actual fire had broken out in the school.
Hopefully, faulty alarms will not be a problem in the future, considering all the complications they caused. Many teachers were interrupted, and students were panicking. Bullard says, “I was surprised. I was like, Whoa, what’s going on? Especially since I’m like, kind of, since I’m a freshman, I’m kind of new to school. I was like, Is this normal? What’s going on?” She said, the sense of confusion in this sentence tells us that this, at times, can be a bad and/or scary experience, especially to freshmen, who are new to the school. Always be aware that a fire could break out, and safety is a priority. These alarms have been fixed, but still, James Logan faces alarms at least once every two weeks, ever since the alarms in the district kitchen have been renewed. Fire alarms may be annoying and cause a mishap. But never forget to follow the protocols of the school. When a real emergency appears, students need to be able to know what to do and listen to their instructor. James Logan students have been heavily prepared for such emergencies. Maybe a little too much.
