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By Jordan Parker

UPDATE: Evacuation prompted by carbon monoxide build up

Nov 29, 2017 | 11:58 AM

UPDATE: St. Joseph’s Catholic High School was evacuated this morning after a CO alarm went off.

Although early investigation pointed to a possible false alarm, further inspection found that that there was a reason for the alert to sound. A broken belt on an exhaust fan caused some carbon monoxide to build up.

The high school’s Twitter indicates the school was evacuated at around 11:40 a.m. Wednesday morning.

Response teams attended the scene, and everyone was taken out of the building to safety. Grande Prairie Fire Department Platoon Chief Steve Larsen explains that they didn’t find anything that would have initiated the alarm when they first responded.

“Staff took precautionary measures to initiate the fire alarm which then we respond to. On arrival, we had nothing showing…in an investigation we couldn’t find any cause for the alarm or any CO in the building which are both very positive. We reset the system and everything turned out okay,” said Larsen. “It was rather quick as nothing was found.”

The building was cleared by the fire department and ATCO by 12:10 p.m., and staff and students are now back inside.

According to the school’s twitter, the CO alarm is being looked after by onsite crews.

“The biggest thing to take away for the public is, if there is a CO [alarm], treat it as a serious piece until you found otherwise. With alarm bells ringing, whether it is CO or fire, treat it as serious until the fire department or building system has been cleared otherwise.”

Edited by Justine Kelsie

by Jordan Parker