10-10-13 simulated fire at campbellsport elementary school

On October 9^th at approximately 9:00 am The Campbellsport Fire Dept. (CFD) conducted a simulated fire at Campbellsport Elementary School (CES). Upon CFD arrival the school was filling with smoke.  Fortunately this was just a drill the CFD conducted in conjunction with the elementary school administration.  Students, staff and faculty were not made aware of the drill which utilized non-harmful theatrical smoke to simulate the realization of an actual fire.  This drill was conducted to reinforce the importance for fire drills. A short assembly followed the simulated fire to discuss how things went during the event.  The students and staff exited the building in less than a minute and complete accountability was achieved in three minutes of the fire alarm sounding according to Principal Shanda Cerny.  One exit was blocked to simulated fire. Staff quickly reacted and students used an alternate exit.  Some students got down to the ground and crawled out of the building upon seeing the smoke.  These actions reinforced what the students learned with other fire prevention activities earlier in the week.  Most faculty and staff thought the building was on fire.  CFD tried to achieve a sense of realism with the exercise.