Woodbury Grammar School was reportedly to have been full of “smoke” according to a passerby who called 911 that “smoke” was seen in the foyer of the school. Woodbury Fire Department was dispatched to the scene, as well as school officials. The “smoke” was actually a fog released for pest control at the school during Fall Break when students were not present.
The Cannon County Board of Education voted at its October 14th, 2021 to contract with Cook’s Pest Control for Brown Recluse Spider eradication to take place during Fall Break, October 18th – 22nd. On Wednesday, October 20th Cooks’ Pest Control personnel sett off multiple foggers in the school. The Fire Alarm was set not to go off for the fogging situation and the security monitoring company was notified. However, a passerby saw the “smoke” in the lobby and called 911 regarding the “smoke.” Woodbury Fire Department Officials came to the scene, as well as, school officials. The “all clear” was given and no actual fire or smoke was detected.
Director of Cannon County Schools, William Freddy Curtis stated, “We are appreciative of the Cannon County Board of Education for voting to have a persistent problem at Woodbury Grammar School to be addressed. However, the unintended consequence of this pest control treatment was to alarm community members with a belief that this pest control fog was “smoke.” Proper precautions were made with our Fire Alarm Service, but notification was not passed on to local emergency officials. Cannon County Schools apologizes for the inconvenience to the community for this ‘false alarm.’ Other schools were and are being treated also, and thus far was not a problem for those schools. We appreciate all the concern about Woodbury Grammar School, so hopefully this pest control situation will be worth all the difficulty and inconvenience.”
Curtis continued, “We look forward to our students being back in our buildings and learning to resume on Monday, October 25th after Fall Break! This situation is indeed a ‘teachable moment’ for our Cannon County School Officials, Cannon County Emergency Officials, and the Town of Woodbury Emergency Officials.”