A fire alarm was triggered at Central at 2:13 p.m. on Dec. 13 by a smoking food warmer in the school’s cafeteria serving line. 

“The hot box in the serving line that keeps the food warm was smoking a lot,” principal Jackie Thornton said. “It was just smoke, no fire, but that’s what set the alarm off.”

Staff members were able to move the unit outdoors.

“That unit was able to be unplugged and we got that outside quickly,” Thornton said.

This was the third fire alarm triggered at Central this school year. The first went off on Oct. 16 due to smoke from construction in Central’s little theater, and the second was triggered by smoke in a basement maintenance office on Nov. 15.

“I feel like we have one [alarm] every year, but not three,” Thornton said. “That’s pretty abnormal.”

This was also the fourth fire alarm triggered in 2023, with a sparking and smoking box in Central’s field house prompted the pulling of a fire alarm on Jan. 17.