ELLIJAY, Ga. – Parents are receiving messages from Gilmer High School today informing them that the Fire Department had to be called to the school.

Gilmer Schools Superintendent Dr. Shanna Downs

According to those messages, due to smoke coming from the mechanical room in the gym, school officials called the Fire Department to investigate. Immediately removing all students from the facility, they were taken to the Band Practice Field for safety.

According to a statement from Superintendent Dr. Shanna Downs, no students were harmed and the fire was quite small.

She added that as of 10:30 a.m, the Fire Department has extinguished the fire and cleared the area for students to return.

While authorities are still looking into the situation, preliminary information from the Fire Department said that the fire could have been electrical in nature. However, this was speculative as they were still looking into it. Reports indicate that only minor damage has been caused to the mechanical room of the gym.