Last night, travelers hoping to maintain their post-Christmas cheer while waiting for flights out of St. Louis Lambert International Airport were instead treated to the chill of the freezing outdoors — all thanks to a burned bagel.
It is not clear whether this bagel was plain, seeded, or embedded with raisins, but what we do know, as first reported by KMOV, was that around 6:40 p.m. the bread-based threat set off fire alarms, causing an evacuation of Terminal 2.
According to an official statement later released over social media, airport officials confirmed that a "temporary partial evacuation" was ordered "out of an abundance of caution after alarm detected smoke near a restaurant." The evacuation — which forced hundreds of people to shuffle onto the freezing tarmac outside — lasted about five minutes before passengers were allowed to return.
Of course, then they had to go through security again.
And what's a good bagel incident without full on-the-ground coverage? In the midst of the drama was TV anchor and reporter Jacob Long, a familiar face to KSDK viewers for the past two years. Granted, Long wasn't on the clock. Having moved to the Boston area in October, Long was waiting for his flight back east after enjoying a few days home in St. Louis for the holidays. But the bagel had other plans, and, like a journalistic John McClane, Long leapt into action, beating every St. Louis news outlet to the story in the process.
Southwest terminal at @flystl is being evacuated
— Jacob Long (@JacobLongTV) December 27, 2017
We are all being told to take the emergency exits. This is in the @SouthwestAir terminal pic.twitter.com/Xva9qTnkAl
— Jacob Long (@JacobLongTV) December 27, 2017
We’re all outside in the freezing cold walking under the jetbridges. No idea where we are going or why. Hundreds of passengers pic.twitter.com/992pFplHXm
— Jacob Long (@JacobLongTV) December 27, 2017
So they took us all outside and back up to the front terminal entrance. now hundreds of passengers have to go through security check points AGAIN. pic.twitter.com/q5Bhzj4KQd
— Jacob Long (@JacobLongTV) December 27, 2017
Okay. Stand down. Apparently it was a burnt bagel that caused the Lambert evacuation. A BAGEL.
— Jacob Long (@JacobLongTV) December 27, 2017
While the situation was obviously annoying (and cold!!) passengers were still able to make their flights. Maybe we should just be glad it was a bagel and not something with actual consequences.
Follow Danny Wicentowski on Twitter at @D_Towski. E-mail the author at [email protected]
