EAST PALESTINE — The East Palestine High School and Middle School campus was briefly evacuated on Wednesday due to a tripped fire alarm, the school district reported on its social media pages.

No fire or other threat to student safety was identified. Middle and high school students waited at the elementary gymnasium until the scene was cleared.

“The East Palestine Fire Department conducted a thorough investigation and confirmed that the fire alarm was triggered but with no evidence of an actual fire in the building,” the district posted on Facebook.

School officials said the alarm was triggered by a sensor in the middle school kitchen when a nutrition staff member was preparing lunch.

The faulty sensor, meant to detect smoke and heat, has been an ongoing issue for the district. A full assessment conducted by the state fire marshal, along with East Palestine Fire Chief Keith Drabick and the contractor of the school’s kitchen equipment identified the sensor as the cause. However, replacing the sensor requires state approval to replace. That process has been initiated.

“The state fire marshal has been on site and has approved all of our protocols for handling the current issue,” the district said. “The school district has already applied for approval through the state to replace the faulty sensor, and we are currently waiting for that to go through.”

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