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Students at S.E. Gross Middle School in Brookfield were evacuated briefly Wednesday afternoon after smoke in a first-floor room activated a fire alarm. Brookfield Fire Chief Pat Lenzi said the department received the call around 2:30 p.m.
Brookfield and Riverside firefighters who were collaborating on a prom safety related event at the RB high school stadium responded to the alarm. According to Lenzi, the smoke was caused by paper inside a toaster in Room 105. Superintendent Thomas Hurlburt said the room is used by special education students for a life skills class.
“It appears as if the wind blew a napkin into the toaster,” Hurlburt said. “And it ignited enough to produce the smoke.”
There was no damage to the room and the napkin had burnt itself out by the time firefighters arrived. Students were allowed back into the school after about 10 minutes. Maple Avenue was closed between Veterans Circle and Lincoln Avenue until 2:50 p.m.