'It's a huge red flag': Durham Public Schools' thousands of fire safety violations have put kids' lives at risk
Durham Public Schools teacher Turquoise Parker was stunned to learn the school district she works for had thousands of fire inspection violations.
WRAL Investigates found 2,126 violations last year in 155 fire inspection records through a public-records request from the district.
“[It’s] very concerning,” Parker said. “[It’s] a huge red flag.”
The violations include broken fire hydrants, fire alarms that don’t work, fire doors that are broken, fire doors that were removed, exit doors that were obstructed and fire extinguishers that are out of date.
For example, at Lowes Grove Middle School, planters blocked access to the fire lane. At Jordan High School, a fire hydrant was inaccessible, behind a locked fence.
“There’s a lot of unsafe territory,” Parker said. “A lot of unsafe things happening in our building.”
None of the 48 schools in Durham County had an approved lockdown plan, nor an approved fire and emergency evacuation plan.
In some reports, the fire inspector noted principals not doing their part. According to state law, if the violations continue, principals could face misdemeanor charges.
For Glenn Elementary School, the inspector found “repeated violations,” adding, the “failure to act endanger[s] the children, faculty, staff and visitors.”
WRAL Investigates asked Durham County Chief Fire Marshal Jason Shepherd whether he believed Durham County Schools (DPS) were safe.
“Well, we’ve identified violations that the fire code considers unsafe conditions,” Shepherd said.
Shepherd said his office is working with DPS officials to educate them on the fire code.
“All the children that attend Durham Public Schools, when you’re responsible for the work that we do in the fire marshal division, everybody is your child,” Shepherd said. “And, every person that utilizes the facilities are dependent upon us to make sure that they’re safe.”
WRAL Investigates asked Shepherd if DPS is doing its part.
“We have seen strides where they are making work to mitigate some of the things that we’ve identified,” Shepherd said.
In a statement, a DPS spokesperson said the district is responding with “urgency and care.” So far, the spokesperson said the district has committed to spend $1.4 million to fix the issues.
"DPS’s highest priority is the safety of our students and staff," the district wrote in a statement. "We are absolutely committed to working with the county Fire Marshal Division to remedy the issues found in the 2022 inspections."
Parker worries DPS doesn’t have the money to do everything. She also hopes for more funds from the state.
“[There are] a lot of things that we’re running against in Durham,” Parker said. “We can’t take care of all of that from what we are receiving from [state lawmakers on] Jones Street in Raleigh,” Parker said.
WRAL Investigates spoke on the phone to retired fire inspector Matt Bivins, who did most of the inspections.
Bivins said a “handful” of DPS administrators seemed resistant to complying. However, overall, he felt the schools genuinely wanted to correct the violations.
Shepherd said the next inspections of the schools will begin in March.
