CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A small fire led to a big response at a CCISD middle school Thursday.
Hamlin Middle School students had their day interrupted when fire crews were called out to campus.
Everyone is safe, and there are no reported injuries, but the fire forced students and teachers to evacuate.
The district texted parents around 11:45 a.m. notifying them about the fire.
The fire is still under investigation, according to Corpus Christi Fire Department Asst. Fire Chief Kenneth Erben, but he said it started in an air-conditioning unit in an unoccupied classroom.
"Our crews arrived on scene and was able to control the situation in less than 30 minutes,” said CCISD Police Chief Kirby Warnke. “All the fire was contained in the room of origin, the smoke is being evacuated now, and students should be able to return very shortly.”
Students were evacuated across the street to the Calk-Wilson Elementary School gym.
They waited there for a short time before they were able to make their way back to campus and continue their school day.
"All the students are safe,” Erben said. “There was no reported injuries. The staff followed their procedures and got everyone out in a timely manner."
Scott AC and Heating’s Johnny Hinojosa talked with 3NEWS about how fires like this can happen.
He said these things are much more common with heaters in the winter, but that he has experienced similar situations like the one at Hamlin.
"We have seen where a motor does overheat and it will cause some smoke, and where the fire department gets called out to put it out," he said. "It's not that common to happen so in a situation like that it's normally a motor that's either been stressed out or overworked."