A group of Cub Scouts escaped a fire at a south side school Monday evening.

INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) - Stop, drop and roll. ​It's a fire safety lesson Caroline Hahn, 6, and her brother Evan, 8, learned Monday night at their Cub Scout meeting. ​

​Their lesson was wrapping up at St. Jude Catholic School when all of a sudden, Caroline noticed something odd.​

​"Me and my friend smelled smoke and everyone looked up to the light and they saw smoke circling the lights," she said.​

​Her Lion Cub instincts set in. ​​She alerted others about the smoke.​

​"One of my scout leaders called 911," said Caroline Hahn.​

“I smell smoke.”



A kindergartner alerts 18 other K-2 cub scouts & 30 adults of a fire inside St. Jude Catholic School. A spokesperson says cub scouts were learning about fire safety when a fire broke out in a storage closet.



No injuries reported. @WTHRcom #wthr pic.twitter.com/9VHw9z43wN — KarenCampbellWTHR (@KarenWthr) January 21, 2020



Evan was in a different group.​

​"The wolves were in the library doing hide and seek and then we came over to talk and my dad came in there and he said, 'change of plans,' and then the fire alarm went off," said Evan Hahn. "I thought, 'Is this just a fire drill or is there actually a fire' and then when I walk up the stairs I smell smoke and realized it's an actual fire." ​

​Investigators it was a case of spontaneous combustion, as wet hay from a nativity scene in a second floor closet ignited. ​

​Firefighters had to cut a hole in the roof for ventilation and break a few windows. ​ ​

7:09 PM -19 kids & 30 adults evacuate ok from @StJudeIndy after fire breaks out in storage room on 2nd floor. The scouting group was learning about fire safety when the 🔥occurred & they evacuated. Investigators say decorative straw ingnited & caught nearby combustibles. pic.twitter.com/XQOuNpEjlP — IFD NEWS (@IFD_NEWS) January 21, 2020

A scary situation for the 19 cubs and 30 adults in the building.​

​The Cubmaster for Pack 51, Tony Hahn says the timing of it was strange.​

​"That we would be in a building the day of a holiday when no one else would be there, and it would happen during that finite amount of time that we were in there and discussing fire safety,​ and it happened where the meeting was? There was something at work," said Tony Hahn. ​

​Something or someone, perhaps, watching over them. ​

​Crews spent time cleaning up debris Tuesday, so kids can return to the classroom Wednesday​. ​Students will have to bring their own lunch, because the cafeteria won't be open.​