Pens down, now: HSC students evacuated mid-exam Firefighters protect properties.in Lithgow. Photo: Deal Sewell The fires which tore through NSW on Thursday broke out as many HSC students held pens in hand, studying for or sitting the exams they have worked towards for years. Some had to evacuate mid-exam, while others are now unable to get to their next test. But HSC student Olivia Creagh, from St Columba's High School at Springwood, said the emergency had put the exams into perspective. The Lake Munmorah fire on the central coast prompted the evacuation of students sitting their HSC engineering exam. Photo: Jason Gordon A couple of days ago the HSC was the worst thing I was going through. But now it seems so insignificant," she said. The other day I was so worried that maybe I hadn't studied hard enough. But I don't care ... because there's worse things out there. She was studying at the school library on Thursday when a teacher told her to leave the premises immediately. Mikahlia Holmes (right) with a friend at Lake Munmorah High School. They didn't tell us there was a fire though. It was only when I was outside, I saw the smoke. When I was driving home there was smoke everywhere and everyone was coming out of their houses to look at it. Some of her fellow Year 12 students were completing exam papers on Thursday afternoon as the situation worsened. Acting principal of St Columba's Phillip Stewart said they had decided to let those students finish the exam. "They were effectively in lockdown so we didn't actually disturb them," he said. Once the exams were finished they then joined the rest of the school. The whole school was placed in lockdown until it was able to be evacuated. "We couldn't have got anyone offsite here with the speed that the fire came up, so all we could do was shelter in place until such time as we could get everyone out safely, and that's what we did," Mr Stewart said. Students at Lake Munmorah High School on the central coast still had 30 minutes of their HSC Engineering Studies exam to go when they were interrupted by one of their deputy principals telling them they needed to put their pens down and evacuate. "We went up and physically stopped the exam at 4.30pm and escorted the kids off," principal Lindsay West said. It all happened in a real hurry, that wind really came up fast. The group of six students were the only ones left in the school at that point, seemingly unaware of the worsening fire threat. "They were coccooned in an exam room, I don't think they had any real knowledge it was getting as bad as it was," Mr West said. The students left the school calmly, he said. The fire skirted the school on Thursday night, coming right up to the boundary fence and burning out a neighbouring paddock, which was still alight at 9am on Friday. Though the school itself escaped unscathed, it was closed on Friday because of road closures. An alternative site has been found for students needing to sit the Ancient History exam on Friday afternoon but the principal said only one of the 19 students due to sit that test would be able to make it. Many students were distressed and disappointed, he said. "We get the sense kids were not actually thinking 'here's a perfect excuse to get out of an exam', they appear to be really keen to find out how do they go about finding a way to get into school," he said. Their feeling was it was just very disappointing. They've put a lot of work into studying for their exams. Mikahlia Holmes was one of the Lake Munmorah High School students who was supposed to sit the Ancient History exam on Friday afternoon. She lives on a nearby peninsula at Gwandalan. "The peninsula is closed and there's only one road in and out, so I'm literally trapped," she said. The school did give me the option to go to Northlakes High School but because of my situation I couldn't get out. There is an element of disappointment that you couldn't go in there and give it your best shot and put everything you've learnt over the past two years onto paper and have pride in that. But, you know, a man died in Lake Munmorah so I'm just taking it all with a grain of salt. Her house was not under threat but on Thursday her father had to spend the night in another suburb because he was stuck on the other side of the road block. So that was pretty stressful not knowing where he was and if he was all right. In the Blue Mountains, Olivia will sit her Ancient History exam at McCarthy Catholic College at Emu Plains, along with her classmates from St Columba's High. Nobody is prepared. It's the last thing on our minds," the 18-year-old said just hours before her exam. 'I know about two or three people in my year who have lost everything and I'm really good friends with them. I tried to do some study last night but I was up until 2 o'clock in the morning worrying about them. The Board of Studies said any students who are unable to attend an exam because of the fires or any natural disaster "are eligible to lodge an illness/misadventure appeal with the Board of Studies NSW." "Safety is paramount and students should not attempt to reach an exam centre if it is unsafe to do so," the board said.