HARTFORD — The town’s middle school was closed for on Wednesday following an early morning electrical fire.
Hartford Fire Department responded to an automatic fire alarm at the school at 4:20 a.m. and found an electrical fire on the second floor, according to a news release from the department.
Crews upgraded the blaze to a first-alarm building fire after finding a “significant amount of smoke” in the building.
The fire was “promptly extinguished” and declared under control just after 5 a.m.
The building was closed for the day for cleanup and a “thorough investigation into the cause of the fire,” according to the release.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Hartford Fire Marshal cleared the school for occupancy and classes were scheduled to resume as normal Thursday, Superintendent Caty Sutton said via email. An electrician was on site Wednesday morning to inspect the electrical system and perform necessary repairs. Cleaning was ongoing.
The fire originated in a ceiling light fixture outside of an elevator. It was contained to the small alcove where the elevator opens up, burning the light fixture, a nearby smoke detector and ceiling tiles, Fire Chief Scott Cooney said Wednesday morning.
Some ceiling tiles dropped onto the floor and were burning there when firefighters arrived. After locating the fire, crews were able to put it out with a fire extinguisher.
After extinguishing the fire, crews from Hartford, Lebanon, Hanover and Windsor ventilated the building to remove residual smoke.
The only building damage was caused by residual smoke, Cooney said.
From the outside, Hartford Memorial Middle School looked unaffected Monday. An unusually quiet atmosphere and yellow fire tape around exterior doors were the only hints that anything was amiss.
This story was updated at 2:23 p.m.