The Saint Louis High School Boys and Girls Bowling teams were met with an unpleasant surprise Feb. 9, when the Riverwood Bowling Alley caught fire.

Smoke filled the air that fatal Thursday, as the St. Louis bowling teams were ushered out. “At first we thought it was a drill, until we saw the smoke coming from the pro shop,” shared Dylan Luft, a member of the boys’ team. The fire alarm had gone off before, but was subsequently turned back off and dismissed by all present. This was before the realization of the bowling alley actually catching fire. “At first I was worried our stuff would get caught in the fire,” Luft continued, “After a while a group was able to get in and retrieve our stuff.” 

“We really figured nothing was wrong when the alarm was turned back off,” commented Alex Hardy, “But then I looked over and saw smoke. I was worried all our things would be destroyed as we all had to leave. Thankfully, all of our stuff was salvaged the next day.” 

“Everything was going normal. We were just in the middle of a set when the whole thing happened,” shared Danielle Thelen, “As the Captain of the Girls’ team, I felt personally responsible for getting everyone on the team out safely.” They would later return the following Monday to complete their meet in the same location.