I thought about writing about the issue of fire safety at my school months ago, but decided it would be better to wait. This way, I would not worry my mother. You see, she has asked me several times if I know the schools plan in case there is a fire. She asked me this only knowing that the school used wood burning stoves in every class for heating. I didn’t feel the need to point out the other issues that made me doubt my safety and that of all the students if the school ever did catch on fire.
The day I seriously started to worry about what would happen if there was a fire was a cold day in November. I was done with classes for the day and sitting in the teachers’ room talking with my co-teacher when she told me I could go home. It was in the middle of the lesson so the halls were pretty empty, but I was not the only one trying to leave the building. When I got to the main doors they were locked and we had no apparent way out.
It took nearly ten minutes to find someone who had a key to let us out of the building. The concept of doors you can open from the inside but not the outside hasn’t occurred in Akhaltsikhe yet. I understand that they lock doors to keep people out during classes as to not disturb all the learning that is going on. But, because there is a window missing above the door, I have seen students who are locked out boost each other up over the door and come in through the window. Locking the door only keeps the undetermined people away.
So, not only was there a wood burning fire and a lack of water in most rooms, the doors were all locked, leaving no easy way out.
Apparently, a few weeks ago, as the weather was starting to get warmer, someone else realized that the school was a major fire hazard. The doors are no longer locked. Also, the school was littered with papers showing the fire escape plan. Consequently, I wasn’t that surprised when a short time later, in the middle of my 4th grade lesson about Halloween, we experienced our first fire drill. In fact, it almost went along with the theme of the lesson. I was talking about haunted houses and then we pretended that the school was burning down. Why we are now reading a book about Halloween in April I can’t explain.
Anyway, the fire drill went very smoothly. Everyone exited the building in a calm and rational way. It was not the single file line-go to your assigned places so your teacher can take attendance-fire drill that I remember from school, but it wasn’t too bad. Once we got outside, no one knew what to do. Still, I feel slightly safer knowing that the school has a fire plan. I still worry a little bit about other building issues, but I feel pretty safe at school.
