GREENFIELD – The Franklin County Justice Center at 43 Hope St. was evacuated for roughly 20 minutes Thursday morning following a harmless duct detector activation, according to Greenfield Fire Capt. John Whitney.
Dozens of attorneys, courthouse employees and members of public funneled out of the building when a fire alarm sounded at 10:52 a.m. People congregated immediately outside the building until court officers ushered them down the sidewalk. About 50 people, including at least one man holding a baby and a woman holding a toddler’s hand, waited in the parking lot of the courthouse’s south side, while about 13 stood across the street from the building and roughly three dozen waited at the library around the corner. At 11:12 a.m., a court officer announced it was safe to reenter the building. It appeared everyone made it through the security checkpoint within about 10 minutes.
Whitney said the duct detector could have been set off by a piece of dust or something similar.
Greenfield resident Mike Burek said he was inside the building talking with his lawyer when the fire alarm went off. He said the time spent outside and then getting past security again was going to throw off everyone’s schedules, and some people would likely forget to add money to their parking meters.
“Now I have to go back through that line. I’ve got to take off my belt, my Fitbit – it’s like going through TSA twice,” he said.