It was the terrifying call firefighters almost didn't get: a high school full of students and deep inside, a fire.
David Rountree, Plymouth North High School student "Someone came running out of the kitchen, yelling there's a fire ! There's a fire! The flames were probably about two feet high over the stove. It's kind of scary to think about."
Even scarier, when a Plymouth North teacher pulled the alarm, it didn't work.
Chief Edward Bradley, Plymouth Fire Department"It's a terrible situation, it should never happen."
Luckily someone grabbed a cell phone and called 911. Only then fire engines peeled out of the station. Firefighters swarmed into the school and everyone was safe.
Why didn't the alarm here work? The obsolete fifty-year-old system was mistakenly turned off! With up-to-date equipment–that couldn't have happened.
Chief Edward Bradley, Plymouth Fire Department"That's a recipe for disaster, that's definitely a life safety problem. We never want to see that happen again."
But our investigation shows it could. Reports we obtained reveal students in elementary, middle and high schools across the state are attending classes in schools with no sprinklers, no smoke detectors, and antiquated alarm systems.
Our investigation of the newest stats shows 242 fires in Massachusetts's schools. That's a fire every day classes were in session. What's more, almost half the time smoke and heat detectors did not operate, did not alert or did not exist.
Stephen D. Coan, Massachusetts State Fire Marshal"Yes that does worry me, because the potential for a major school fire exists in our state and in our communities across the state."
Would you want your kids in this Athol classroom? There are permanent wire grates nailed across the windows. No smoke detectors. No sprinklers. And 200 plus kids. And the superintendent admits four other schools in the district are just like this.
Superintendent Anthony Polito, Athol-Royalston Public Schools "My fear is that there could be a major fire with loss of life, that's my fear."
Will it happen here? Baldwinville is waiting to hear if there's money for a new school. This 1923 building does have smoke detectors-but no sprinklers. In case of fire officials insist the kids would be okay, but not the building.
Superintendent Stephen Hemman, Narragansett Public Schools"We can evacuate them, we've got them down to about two minutes, but then the building will probably go. There's nothing suppressing the fire."
Will it happen here? At Center School in Stow: 300 kids, teachers and a concerned superintendent.
Hank Phillippi Ryan"Are there smoke detectors everywhere?"
Superintendent Michael Wood, Nashoba Public Schools"No."
Hank Phillippi Ryan"What about sprinklers?"
Superintendent Michael Wood, Nashoba Public Schools"No."
How can it happen? Unless the legislature passes a specific law, as it did for nightclubs after the Station fire in Rhode Island that killed 100 people, there's nothing requiring communities to put detectors and sprinklers in schools built before 1997. Superintendents are left to beg their often cash-strapped communities for fire safety money. Some have applied to the state for help. And schools in session while they wait.
Stephen D. Coan, Massachusetts State Fire Marshal"What's at risk is serious fires in schools without early warning. And we know that without early warning, there can be tragedy."
You don't have to remind Gary Rountree. It was his son who had to grab a fire extinguisher at Plymouth North. Like many parents, he had no idea there was cause for alarm.
Gary Rountree, parent"It's extraordinary to think you'd put the lives of your kids in a building that you believe to be safe, when in fact it could have lead to disaster."
What's the fire safety situation at your child's school? If they've asked for state aid, we've put a link to their very revealing applications. Otherwise, it's a phone call to school officials you might want to make.
(Copyright 2008 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)