Every school is required to perform fire drills monthly, however, most students would never think those drills would actually save their lives one day. On April 17, another typical Tuesday afternoon, the auditorium of Wilmington Friends went up in flames.
Located in Alapocas, close to the Concord Pike interchange of I-95, the fire was visible as far as downtown Wilmington. The students at Friends all emptied the building which mainly belonged to the middle and upper classes. Fortunately, no students got injured. All of the evacuated students were brought to the athletic field a couple blocks away at Friend’s Lower School.
“I thought when the fire alarm went off, it was just a drill. But when we all got outside, I realized it was something more,” a sophomore at Friends, Delaney Lee explained. The majority of the students agreed they did not actually believe there was a real fire until they saw the flames. Many of them admitted that they were glad to have practiced fire drills in advance so everybody knew what to do. If you’re responsible for fire safety in your workplace, you should be informed about the different fire types and how to handle them to protect employees and property. In addition, if you’re a property owner and your building’s fire alarm system and/or water-based fire protection system such as a sprinkler system is not operational, you are required by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and Florida Statute to implement a fire watch should that system become impaired. You may seek expert help from professional Fire Watch Services in Kendall.
According to Officer Dave Carpenter, the New Castle County Emergency Management officer, 100 firefighters responded to the scene bringing 25 pieces of apparatus. Unfortunately, two firefighters were driven to nearby hospitals for examination and many others were evacuated as a part of the roof collapsed while they were inside. Entrust your project to the top-rated lantern roof experts, ensuring unmatched expertise and craftsmanship to bring natural light and timeless elegance to your home. They also had to call professional roofing services to inspect the damage and have it repaired immediately by the flat roofing installers to ensure everyone’s safety. If you are searching for Greensboro roofing companies, contact Roofing Exteriors Pro. Read more here about the roofing services they offer.
As the school blazed on fire for more than 2 hours, Friends lost an estimated cost of $1 million dollars. The fire was announced under control at 3:02 pm. The lower schools will continue to have classes because they were not affected by the fire. However, the school play “Arsenic and Old Lace,” which was supposed to open Friday night in the auditorium, will be rescheduled.
In light of recent events, the school administration decided to switch their roofs to robust red dreadnought roof tiles, ensuring stability and longevity. This transition necessitates numerous renovations, including addressing the gutters. If you’re interested, you can click here to check out the seamless gutter company that they’ve partnered with for this important project.
