All students and faculty were evacuated from the Columbia Area Career Center this morning as fire alarms blared throughout the building. Around 10:20 a.m., the Columbia Fire Department arrived on the scene and inspected the building.
CACC secretary Monica Widhalm and Assistant Director Rebecca Wimer-Pisano said firefighters discovered a malfunctioning sensor in one of the northwest hallways of the CACC had set off the alarms.
No one was injured and classes resumed shortly. However, some students from neighboring high schools were left behind in the chaos of the false alarm.
“We had a few students who missed the bus, but we’re calling [the buses] back to come and get them,” Wimer-Pisano said.
Because the alarms went off at the end of a class period, many classes were scattered across the campus, causing confusion.
“We were actually leaving class when it happened and then I saw the rest of the class was going out to the spot outside the Career Center,” senior broadcast journalism student Jon Crader said.  “So I figured I should stay with them until the drill, or what I thought was a drill, was over, but I guess it’s an actual fire.”
Crader’s teacher, Joe Wittman, was giving a tour at the time of the incident.
“I only had two students, or three that were actually in the classroom,” Wittman said. “It was very interesting trying to track all my students down.”
Although it ended up being a false alarm, students were concerned about the well-being of others.
“I hope that everyone’s okay,” senior Digital Media student Megan Kelly said, “because it’s actually really scary when you think about it.”
By Karina Kitchen
Additional reporting by Ronel Ghidey
Were you evacuated? How would you react if this had been a real fire?