Fire alarm at school: Ruler triggers major alarm shortly before school ends!

Fire alarm at school: Ruler triggers major alarm shortly before school ends!

On October 11, 2025, there was a large fire brigade operation at the New Middle School in Ried im Innkreis, which was triggered by a fire alarm. Just four minutes before the end of class, a worrying alarm was raised indicating heavy smoke in a container classroom. These containers are currently being used as temporary classrooms while the main school building is being renovated.

The cause of the smoke was a heater in one of the containers, which was emitting dangerous smoke from a charred lump of plastic that was originally a ruler. The teaching staff reacted immediately and initiated the evacuation of the entire school. Fortunately, the evacuation went without complications and the students were able to get outside safely.

Quick response from the fire department

After the alarm was triggered by the fire alarm system, the fire brigade quickly arrived. The situation was quickly brought under control and by ventilating the rooms, classes could later resume as normal. Such incidents exemplify the challenges of dealing with smoke in schools and other facilities.

The dangers posed by smoke are well documented. Loud FeuerTrutz Smoke consists of solid soot particles and respiratory toxins that arise during fires. These pose a significant threat to people and can also lead to property damage. Fire protection is not just theoretically important; it must be effectively implemented in practice.

Regulations and prevention

There are a variety of legal regulations in German fire protection law that specify regulations for smoke evacuation and fire protection organization. The Workplace Ordinance (ArbStättV) is a central regulation that ensures that escape and rescue routes as well as the use of fire extinguishers are properly planned and implemented. Fire protection headquarters emphasizes that the objectives of these regulations are a rapid and orderly response in the event of a fire.

There are also regulations for training fire protection assistants and equipping them with fire extinguishers. Such organizational measures are supported by the Technical Rules for Workplaces (ASR), which establish specific requirements for preventive fire protection.

Developments in fire protection technology are also important. Engineers use modern methods such as zone models and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to simulate the spread of smoke during a fire and thus develop effective measures to prevent and fight fires. These engineering methods make it possible to analyze object-specific functional requirements and ensure that all safety standards are met.

Overall, the incident at the New Middle School Ried im Innkreis shows how important quick action and preventive fire protection measures are. It serves as a reminder of the need to ensure safety in schools and other facilities through structured and well-thought-out security concepts.