Provided by Angelina Antony (11)

Thick plumes smoke were visible from campus on Tuesday. “Right when I walked outside I could smell the smoke and saw a huge black cloud of it coming from behind the library,” said Angelina.

A fire broke out in a recreational vehicle parked by the 7-Eleven on Kiely Boulevard two blocks away from the upper school, killing one and prompting a campus-wide shelter-in-place on Tuesday morning. 

While the cause of the blaze remains unknown, the fire spread to nearby trees but did not cause damage to buildings before the San Jose Fire Department contained it.  

Students and faculty evacuated to Davis Field, including those in the middle of their World History final exams. They remained there for around 20 minutes before being directed back inside due to worsening air quality.

“I was studying for my final when Mr. Lee told me we had to go to the field because of the fire,” junior Angelina Antony said. “Right when I walked outside I could smell the smoke and saw a huge black cloud of it coming from behind the library.”

At 11:14 a.m., Upper School Dean of Students Kevin Williamson issued a shelter-in-place notice to prevent smoke inhalation, asking everyone on campus to remain indoors. The mandate lasted around 15 minutes, after which students were allowed to move between buildings but not linger outside. 

In an email update, Williamson told students: “You are now permitted, once excused from a Final Exam, to move to Manzanita, for lunch, and to your next building destination – that’s it. You must eat indoors today. You cannot socialize outside during lunch today given the poor air quality. If you feel you need a mask, the other stop you can make is the Nurse’s Office.”

On Wednesday, the shelter-in-place was completely lifted and students were free to go about their day as usual.