Children evacuated, get recess when smoke fills classroom

Students at Skyview Elementary were evacuated Friday afternoon when a third-grade classroom filled with smoke.

A heat exchanger in an air-conditioning unit malfunctioned, said firefighter Chris Neumann of Valley Fire.

Teacher Jill Schillan smelled the smoke before it became visible, said Principal Chiere Martyn. There were children in the room at the time.

“Their teacher immediately took them out of the classroom and took them to an empty classroom,” Martyn said.

Skyview is East Valley’s only year-round elementary school. Classes began Monday.

All the students went to the playground and had an unplanned recess while firefighters cleared the smoke from the room.

“We had already started evacuating the building and had just about everybody out by the time they (firefighters) got here,” Martyn said.

The process went smoothly, Neumann said. “They had a good evacuation plan,” he said.

Martyn had nothing but praise for the firefighters’ quick response and her students. “The kids managed themselves very well,” she said.