OWENSVILLE — A Thursday morning fire at Owensville High School (OHS) was identified by passing math teacher Donna Hinson who noticed smoke in Rick Hardy’s career tech classroom where screen printing equipment is housed.

Administrators such as Assistant Superintendent Dr. Staci Johnson were in the building on Nov. 16 for Career Fair Day, where community members are invited to share information about their jobs with students. When Hinson pulled the fire alarm around 8:10 a.m., students, teachers, staff, and business people alike were headed out the door.

“There wasn’t so much a fire as an element in the screen printer that started burning,” Johnson said. “There wasn’t a flame, but it was smoking. A teacher saw it and didn’t have her keys to get into the room, so she pulled the fire alarm so the building could be evacuated.”

At least one fire department was already on scene for Career Day and a second fire truck was called to investigate the smoke.

“There was no damage to the equipment that can’t be fixed,” Johnson said. “The machine itself is fine, but there is a board that will need to be replaced. They printed shirts on it on Thursday and Friday.”

Johnson said it took them a long time to move fans into the hallway outside of Hardy’s door to get the smoke out. Hardy’s career tech classes take place inside a regular classroom where ventilation systems were never planned to exist but were added later.

Once the smoke was in the hallway, Johnson said the fire alarm kept triggering a second time.

“The fire wasn’t caused by lack of ventilation but it is an ongoing issue,” Johnson said.

She added that doing more than just a drill is good for students.

“It was a really good experience for kids and staff to have to go through,” Johnson said. “Emergency procedures before and after school starts. Mostly we are in the classroom when something happens, but this gave us a way to actually see what things would look like.”

Elizabeth Hinch, career advisor/A+ coordinator, was a big organizer in the Career Fair Day event and said she received great feedback despite the slight hiccup during check-in.

“The event began with an unforeseen delay when the fire alarms went off just as everyone was set to arrive,” she said. “I am so grateful for the overall reaction from our presenters during this time.”

Hinch added that she received amazing feedback from students about their experiences.

“I would love your feedback as professionals as well,” she said. “I would be extremely grateful if you could take a few moments to share your thoughts and insights.”

Surveys were sent to participants for feedback.