No injuries from smoke, small fire in Hagerstown middle school's mechanical room

No injuries were reported at E. Russell Hicks Middle School after a water heater ruptured with a small fire and smoke in the building on Wednesday afternoon, Hagerstown Deputy Fire Chief Adam Hopkins said.

Smoke inside the 1321 S. Potomac St. school building in Hagerstown's South End was reported at 3:48 p.m. Wednesday, according to a Washington County 911 supervisor.

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There were no students in the building at the time, Washington County Public Schools spokeswoman Erin Anderson texted.

School had already been dismissed for the day. There were some staff in the building and the building was evacuated, officials said.

Spring break begins Thursday, with school to resume on Tuesday.

There was no immediate information about whether the water heater would be replaced by then and what impact it would have on school operations Tuesday.

Hopkins, in a text, said firefighters arrived to find smoke coming from the mechanical room. They found a water heater that over-pressurized and ruptured with a small, contained fire.

Crews extinguished the fire and worked to remove smoke, Hopkins wrote.

Firefighters worked with school system maintenance on the situation, he said.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Staff evacuated after smoke, small fire at Hagerstown school