WEST NEWBURY, MASS. (WHDH) - A student robotics team jumped into action and put out a fire in the auditorium at Pentucket Regional Middle-High School in West Newbury on Saturday.

Students say they smelled smoke around noon, and hours later, a full fledge fire broke out.

“I didn’t really think it was was real,” said Olivia Stacy.

“My fight or flight instincts really, like, kicked in,” said Matt Bennett. “I was like, okay? Fire? I gotta get out of here.”

Olivia Stacy and Matt Bennett are both members of the school’s 20 person robotics team. On Saturday, the team was building a robot in a room next to the auditorium.

Adult mentors rushed over and quickly realized they needed fire extinguishers. That’s when the team sprang into action.

“We’ve walked these halls like hundreds of times,” said Bennett. “We basically know where everything is by memory at this point. And when we heard there was a fire, we sprang into action. We ran around just getting those fire extinguishers and help out.”

Authorities believe the fire may have started in a trash barrel used to dispose of saw dust from working on stage props.

Their teacher believes the damage would have been way worse without their actions.

The team has their first event in about two and a half weeks. That’s when they’ll unveil “Calcium,” the robot they’ve been working on all this time.

(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Join our Newsletter for the latest news right to your inbox