10 Richmond schools have fire alarm panels too old to reprogram

RICHMOND, Va. -- More than two weeks since a disastrous fire ripped through William Fox Elementary School, several alarm panels inside Richmond Public Schools remain uncorrected.

On February 11, when Fox went up in flames, the school's alarm system did not notify the alarm company, Johnson Controls, because the panel had not been reprogrammed to include a full phone number with the 804 area code. It was a change required by Verizon in October 2021 in order to make local calls.

RPS has now hired fire watches to monitor multiple schools where alarm panels have still not been updated with the right phone number, according to spokesperson, Matthew Stanley.

“The reality is that that should have been done not today, not yesterday, but done a long time ago," said School Board Member Jonathan Young about the unfixed panels. "I, too, fail to understand why it has taken so long.”

Essentially, a fire watch is someone professionally trained who provides surveillance of buildings and looks out for any signs of fire. The measure can be ordered by a local Fire Marshal if there's a violation of the statewide fire prevention code. Stanley said RPS is required to have the fire watches due to the missing area code issue.

On Sunday, RPS spokesperson, Sarah Abubaker, confirmed to the CBS 6 Problem Solvers that all but ten facilities' panels have been reprogrammed with the correct phone number, and fire watches are monitoring all ten of them. The panels that have not been updated are too old for local vendors to fix, according to an email sent by Superintendent Jason Kamras to school board members.

In the email, Kamras said RPS is working to install cellular dialers in those systems.

The ten facilities include Arthur Ashe Athletic Center, Elizabeth Redd Elementary, George Wythe High, J. B. Fisher Elementary, John B. Cary Elementary, Mary Scott Preschool, Open High School, Richmond Alternative, Southampton Elementary, and Ginter Park Elementary, according to an email.

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Saturday night, first responders were called to Ginter Park Elementary for a fire alarm notification. Stanley said no horns or strobe lights were activated, and an undetermined signal was sent to the monitoring company.

Upon arrival, Stanley said security personnel could not provide firefighters with a fire zone map Saturday which would be used to help firefighters quickly locate emergencies. Stanley said all schools should have a map in panel boxes, and RPS is auditing.

“Anyone who's spent even a moment in any kind of school or commercial facility knows that you have to have ready access to maps that provide for ingress, egress, in particular, relevant to fire," Young said. “Bottom line, way too many missteps.”

WTVR

The CBS 6 Problem Solvers asked if there was a zone map for Fox Elementary School readily available to firefighters on February 11. The Richmond Fire Department initially said the panel that night indicated "zone 32," but firefighters did not know what "zone 32" meant. This story will be updated once we receive a response.

Dispatchers noted through emergency communication that a key holder was not on file for Ginter Park Elementary School Saturday evening which would be an administrative employee who could give firefighters access to the building. Instead, firefighters contacted RPS security which arrived within fifteen minutes. CBS 6 has asked RPS to confirm if a key holder was not on file and will update this story when we receive a response.

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