Fire erupts during birthday celebration at Samo

On Oct. 7, a fire in room H218 during sixth period led to an evacuation of the History building. A harmless potluck celebrating the birthday of French teacher David Gottlieb quickly turned sour, and the fire department arrived promptly.A student brought in a camping stove for the class to make crepes on, and it was set up on the heating vent underneath the window.“We put the stove together and everything was going fine,” Lila Krop (’18) said. “We turned around and saw that it exploded into flames out of nowhere.”Gracie Fletcher (’18) quickly grabbed the fire extinguisher and Austen Ariniello (’18) put the fire out. The fire continued to come back until the fire department came and was able to turn the gas off. O-House principal Dr. Regina Zurbano commended the staff and students for their aptness in following directions and issued an important reminder.“Everyone followed evacuation procedure and acted very quickly,” Zurbano said. “Whenever there’s an emergency, act like it’s a drill, follow directions, and don’t linger.”