It was quiet. Too quiet. In fact, one could say it was dangerously quiet at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 28 as red and orange flames leaped from vents in Mark Rickabaugh’s room 153.

Putrid fumes filled the hall, students were evacuated, security guards ran in with fire extinguishers, and yet… silence. No fire alarm.

Through drills and pranks, the fire alarm sounds a dozen times a year, yet on the one occasion when its obnoxious high-pitched wail would have actually come in handy, its silence was disappointing.

The whole ordeal might have been comic if not for the incredibly high stakes. The fire could have been yet another example of how old our humble building is if it had been handled properly, but it wasn’t. And that is the most frightening aspect of the fire.

Administrators say the smoke detector malfunctioned, and that it was machine error, not human error, that resulted in such a haphazard evacuation. However, the fact remains that students were put in a possibly dangerous situation, and final responsibility must reside with school officials.

The concern runs deeper than just a few faulty smoke detectors. The April 28 fire revealed an overall unpreparedness for a fire emergency on the part the school. As students poured into the smokey hall, the situation was undeniably chaotic. Teachers were bewildered, and some students went to the wrong locations.

Mercifully, the crisis was resolved before anything bad could happen, and hopefully the administration will respond to this wake-up call.