High School Evacuated in Wappingers Falls, New York

A Wappingers Central School District High School was evacuated Monday after an alleged TikTok trend.

According to multiple sources, the Roy C Ketcham High School evacuated students and faculty shortly before 9 a.m. on Monday after a fire alarm was triggered as smoke filled parts of the school.

Ketcham High School Evacuated

The Wappingers Central School District was forced to conduct an early dismissal on Monday after school officials said a student-issued Chromebook began to smoke inside a classroom. According to faculty members, students were evacuated from the school out of an abundance of caution after a fire alarm inside the school located at 99 Myers Corners Rd, Wappingers Falls, NY, was triggered.

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First responders arrived at the school shortly after the alarm was activated just before 9 a.m. and determined that a student's school-issued Chromebook computer was the source of the smoke, which filled parts of the high school with smoke, prompting an early dismissal.

What Caused the Smoke?

School officials believe the Chromebook was possibly tampered with, causing the computer to smoke. Some students and faculty believe the incident could be the result of a trend that's been reported on the social media platform TikTok, although that has not been confirmed.

Was it a TikTok Trend?

Numerous videos on TikTok explain how to make a Chromebook smoke by having someone place pieces of graphite from a pencil inside the charging port or the USB port of the Chromebook. As the graphite gets hotter, it reportedly makes the machine begin to smoke.

It's unclear if this is what caused the smoke to fill parts of the high school, but New York State Fire Inspectors and the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office are investigating.

When more information is available, we will update this article.