Only the second week of school and the kids and staff at the Berlin Elementary School had a fire drill already on Wednesday of this week. Only it wasn’t a drill. As the children filed out onto the lawn in front of the school, fire apparatus, seen here in the background, began arriving with sirens wailing, not only from Berlin but from Stephentown and Petersburgh as well. Berlin Fire Chief Billy Osterhout said he received a call shortly before 2 pm that there was smoke in the school. Arriving on the scene with fire apparatus and rescue trucks, he found smoke permeating the second floor as well as the attic area. Firefighters investigated, found the cause of the smoke and took corrective action. Osterhout said that all of the staff and children had already evacuated the building before he arrived and none had been at any risk. He said he was not at liberty to disclose the cause of the smoke. However, he gave assurance that the school is now safe and there would be no problem continuing with classes on Thursday. (David Flint photo)
