On Friday, November 12, at around 11:30 a.m., a small fire broke out in the third floor bathroom at Stuyvesant High School. The students were promptly evacuated, and nobody was hurt.
John Simon, 17, a senior at the high school, said the rumor was that a student threw a cigarette in the trash can, adding that people smoke in the bathrooms all the time. He was in class on the third floor when the fire started.
“The entire hallway was filled with smoke,” he said. “The F.D.N.Y. came two minutes after we were evacuated. Everyone was outside. Some people tried to go into the deli to get lunch but a teacher came in and said ‘any Stuyvesant students, get out of the deli right now.’”
Gian Luca Belastra, 15, a sophomore at the school, said that some kids waited on the other side of the pedestrian bridge for the go-ahead to return, while some remained on the block of school. “They made us wait outside for an hour. It was a huge mess,” he said, adding that they were allowed back into the building at around 12:30 p.m. According to Belastra, teachers would not allow students to sit in the park or go get lunch, even though many were on their lunch period at the time. “I think a student did it on purpose…maybe he had somewhere to be and wanted to get out early,” said Belastra.
The F.D.N.Y. did not comment on the cause of the fire. and the Dept. of Education did not respond to requests for comment.
— Helaina N. Hovitz
