At 2:38 p.m. on, Jan. 27 fire alarms blared through Masters Hall and the Dobbs Ferry Fire Department raced toward Clinton Avenue, lights and sirens both on. In an unprompted evacuation event earlier this week, Masters students were ushered toward the snow-filled quad, then toward the Masters Hall senior parking lot and lastly into the Cameron Mann Dining Hall. This followed the guidance of Upper School Head Peter Newcomb who informed students that the fire alarms were not part of a school-wide drill. Directly after Newcomb’s announcement, questions amongst the students arose. Confused students shuffled into each location wondering what or who caused such an event. Commenting on this issue was one first hand source, Sophie Ricks ‘27. Sophie followed her classmates throughout the ordeal as instructed by her teachers and faculty.  Ricks said, “I thought, Uh-oh, is this real or fake?”

Masters’Associate Dean of Student Life, Dean of the Class of 2027, & Upper School English teacher Mariah Peña said, “It had to do with the construction that’s currently ongoing.” 

This construction in question is part of Masters renovation of the Claudia Boettcher Theatre,  a project which started this 2025-2026 school year and will become fully functional by the end of the 2027 school year. 

In respect to the large winter storm which deeply affected our campus on Jan 25, Tower News inquired if the heavy snowfall and its effects on the school had a role in starting the sirens. As a result of the storm Pena said, “that wasn’t the impression that I got. I don’t think that was the reason.” While this is unlikely to be a recurring issue throughout the new semester, the impromptu fire drill prior to this school year and another at 5:10pm on Jan. 27, 2026, are pieces of evidence which do not add confidence to students and faculty that the alarms will not sound again. Yet, on Feb. 3, 2026, there was another impropmtu drill.