False Alarms

Right after lunch yesterday the fire alarms went off. We looked at the stacked signal ights at the end of the hall and the red light was flashing. We figured this meant we should get out of the building. So we grabbed our coats, passcards, and purses and headed out into the cold. We got halfway across the parking lot before some people back at the building yelled “Come back in!” Turns out we need a flashing red and flashing yellow together in order to evacuate. And there’s a poster that states that right on the end of the row. No one thought to look at it… Oops.

Apparently it was a false alarm anyway – some system fault or something. As one of my co-workers said, “If this was a test, we all failed.” Then another said, “If failing means I’m safe, I’m ok with that.” I think we all need a refresher course on the flashing light system though. I never know what I’m supposed to do. All I know is green = good.