fire drill

Hello,

The trading floor was in a frenzy. The fire drill included everyone in DPG (derivatives product group), even Peter Karches, the head of fixed income, who was stopping by for updates every few minutes. Reporters began calling us, and we were instructed not to comment..

FIASCO: Blood In the Water on Wall Street by Frank Partnoy

Context, the investment sold derivative products to Orange County, and then those products quickly decreased in value. The quotes describe the investment bank's reaction towards this loss.

How can I interpret “fire drill” here?

It may be a reference (without the ethnic element) to the phrase Chinese fill drill. "A slang term for a situation that is chaotic or confusing, possibly due to poor or misunderstood instructions..."

I'm quite certain that's not a coincidence. 👁 Smile :)

You’re right, according to the Your Dictionary page I mentioned in #2: Fire drill dictionary definition | fire drill defined

Thanks, Lingobingo, The Newt and kentix.