Fire alarm sends students, staff outdoors

    Students and staff at Chase County Schools were ushered out into the cold Friday morning after alarms went off in the building.
    The Imperial Volunteer Fire Department, EMS, Police Chief Ryan Wisnieski and Emergency Manager Duane Dreiling all responded to the scene shortly after 8:30 a.m.
    Fire Chief Doug Mitchell said there was no smoke or danger indoors, but the building was emptied of students and staff as a precaution.
    Firefighters spent about an hour inside investigating.
    “Something set it off,” Mitchell said.
    Once it was reset, the alarm went off again while first responders were still on scene, he said.    
    “We couldn’t find anything,” Mitchell said.
    Students and staff were let back into the building after the IVFD assessed no danger existed. They gathered in the school’s gyms.
    Dallas Baney, head of CCS maintenance, said the school had new sensors installed recently. However, CCS Supt. Adam Lambert said they don’t believe the newly-installed sensors were the issue.
    “The sensor that tripped the alarm this morning was from an air handler unit above the ceiling tiles,” he said.
    “Each air handler has fire detectors attached to them.  There was no fire and no broken air handler unit. We think it was dust build-up on the sensor that tripped it,” Lambert said.
    Lambert alerted parents and guardians Friday morning of the situation, saying CCS was back to a normal school day by 10 a.m.
    He wrote, “I want to thank our staff and the fire department for their quick work in keeping our students safe and accounted for.”
    He added, “Your students were great and responded well to the situation and all the instructions given to them.”