After the eruption of a small underground fire on Monday, Arlington firefighters arrived on campus and after a one and a half hour delay, the bell schedule was amended.

“I figured a kid pulled the alarm or it was a drill, and the fire department came as a precaution,” sophomore Harrison Le said. “But I knew something was wrong (because) it did seem a little strange that a drill would be during lunch.”

The fire started around 11:30 a.m., in Room 1326, where construction was taking place.

“(At first) I didn’t know was there was an actual fire but I’m thankful it didn’t do much damage,” Le said.

Students were evacuated and waited outside until the fire department and MISD Maintenance Department cleared the building.

“I didn’t know what was happening but when the school let us back inside, it was chaotic,” sophomore Daniel Harris said.

When classes resumed at approximately 12:45 p.m., the schedule was modified to continue 25-minute lunches and finish the school day at the regular time.

Harris said, “It was a little inconvenient and I thought we were going to be sent home but I’m glad they handled the situation quickly so that we were all safe.”