By Robbie Chamberlain
The Scene staff
What may have been an April Fools’ Day prank ended up costing the school tens of thousands of dollars while disrupting classes and food service on the Forest Park campus.
Someone set off a fire alarm by the pizza ovens in the cafeteria on April 1, despite no fire, according to college officials. That caused the alarm to sound throughout campus buildings, forcing hundreds of students, faculty and staff to evacuate.
In addition, fire-suppression systems were automatically triggered in the cafeteria and an adjacent culinary kitchen, covering the equipment in chemical foam.
“My students were literally picking up their bags and walking out the door when the alarms started going off,” said Ellen Piazza, culinary arts program director. “Somebody thought it was cute to pull an April fool’s joke and may not have realized how big a deal it was actually going to become.”
Campus Police Lt. David Berryman, commander at Forest Park, said the incident is under investigation. He declined to speculate whether someone set off the alarm or the system malfunctioned.
Berryman referred further questions to Facilities Manager Eric Wille, who was certain someone set off the alarm.
Setting off a fire alarm as a prank can result in a disorderly conduct charge in Missouri. The first offense is a class B misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and six months in jail.
What would happen to a student found to have committed that offense at Forest Park?
“We would have to interview that person to see what the motives were, what the intentions were. … I couldn’t really answer that question without that situation actually existing,” Berryman said.
About 10:50 a.m. on Wednesday, April 1, many students were leaving classes when they heard the shrill screech of campus fire alarms.
“Out of nowhere, the fire alarm started,” said Chastity Scott, a general transfer student. “I saw someone directing their class out, and honestly, I followed the group. And then we were outside just huddled together, very confused.”
Students flooded outdoors onto covered walkways below the East and West Wing buildings, surrounded by a steady downpour of rain. Some left campus and went home. Others stayed and returned to classes within a few minutes after being told that it was a false alarm.
For most students, the evacuation was a mild annoyance. But for Forest Park cafeteria staff and culinary students, the situation was more serious.
Shortly after the alarm sounded, fire-suppression systems in the cafeteria and culinary kitchens were activated. The latter was doused with foam made for extinguishing fires that involve fryers and ovens, according to Piazza.
“Literally, all of our stoves were soaked in this chemical, which settles into this green, nasty, stinky liquid, which seeps into the machines and has to be professionally cleaned out,” she said.
American Dining Creations (ADC), which contracts with the college to operate the cafeteria, was able to resume selling retail food items the next day, but its hot-food services were halted for a week.
The culinary kitchen was also closed until April 9. Classes were temporarily held in the capstone kitchen in the Hospitality Studies building.
“We had to bring in induction burners and have students work differently,” Piazza said. “We had to tweak around what we were normally going to do in order to accommodate the different space.”
Rodney Jones, manager of Forest Park auxiliary services, estimates that the incident will end up costing the college more than $30,000. That includes professional cleaning, wasted food, loss of revenue from hot-food sales and “reloading” the fire-suppression system.
“Then it has to be tested, then the city has to look at ADC’s standard operating procedures for how this works and approve that they can serve what they’re able to serve,” Jones said.
The fire alarm in question is left of the Cucina kitchen pizza ovens, behind a counter. It is not normally accessible to students.
The area is also not covered by a security camera, which is why investigators haven’t yet identified a suspect, according to Berryman.
Piazza said she saw someone who wasn’t in uniform leaving through the hallway next to the culinary kitchen, which is usually closed to non-culinary students and staff.
“My guys kinda just took off,” she said. “That’s when I saw who I think pulled it or did it come out of the doorway from the hall between us and the cafeteria.
“The person I saw actually had one of those white to-go containers in their hand, so I think they had been in the cafeteria earlier to get food. … It was an ‘I’ve already got my lunch. Nobody else gets one!’ kind of thing.”
Jones said that due to the lack of surveillance video and witnesses, it is unlikely that the culprit can be caught.
“Unless someone was willing to come forward and say that they saw something, or if the person was to confess that they did it, I think we’re probably not going to be able to find them,” he said. “I would like to know who did that and see some accountability.”