Smoke bomb set off in Armstrong school draws fire department

A dangerous prank brought police and the fire department to an Armstrong high school Wednesday afternoon.

Just after lunch, a group of Pleasant Valley Secondary School students rushed to the principal's office to report smoke was pouring through a hallway.

It was determined a smoke bomb had been set off, and the fire department and police were called. Firefighters used a fan to suck the smoke out of the school and police are investigating the offense.

"We believe it wasn't students of ours that set it off," principal Abbas El Gazzar says. "It wasn't a grad prank."

El Gazzar says he was thankful for years of fire drill practices. "The students knew to stay back," he said.

No one had to be evacuated, but El Gazzar says students and staff were kept to one side of the school while crews flushed out the smoke.

"There was some melting of the tile and the wall, but it could have been a lot worse," El Gazzar says. "It could have been dangerous if it had spread."

By 1:30 p.m. students were back in class, some of them disappointed they weren't getting the afternoon off.

"Sometimes people do these things without thinking," El Gazzar says. "They do it as a joke but it can be very serious."

To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infotelnews.ca or call (250)309-5230. Follow on Twitter @charhelston