Cool schools and burst pipes

Another cold day, another burst pipe in a school that displaced students briefly.

The weather outside Wednesday is not quite as frigidly frightful as it was on Tuesday, but apparently no one told that to a pipe at Abington Senior High School. on Highland Avenue in Abington.

The school's website had this to say about that:

"This morning at approximately 8:05 a.m. we were notified of flooding in the Senior High cafeteria area. Students were immediately evacuated to the Junior High. Senior High students were returned to the high school starting at 9:05 a.m. There was a frozen pipe in the sprinkler system in Cafeteria B causing flooding in that cafeteria and two adjacent Art rooms."

District schools Superintendent Amy Sichel told MontCo Memo Wednesday that the senior high was evacuated because the fire alarm automatically sounded when the sprinkler pipe burst.

Students were taken to Abington Junior High, which shares a campus with the high school.

"They were inside [the junior high] and safe inside three minutes," Sichel said.

The young people returned to their school after maintenance workers and local firefighters made sure there was no fire.

"The cleanup started right away," the superintendent said, with the entire building usable Wednesday except for one of the two cafeterias. Students used a single cafeteria Wednesday.

The evacuation went smoothly, she added.

"The kids were absolutely fabulous — and probably were disappointed that they didn't get to go home."

On Tuesday, a similar situation occurred at Bala Cynwyd Middle School in Lower Merion Township. Frozen pipe bursts. Fire alarm and sprinkler triggered. Students, teachers and staff outside for about five minutes.

Looking on the bright side, parents and kids now know that the fire alarms work in those schools and that evacuation plans are in place.