An overheated motor caused smoke to fill the library of Syracuse Elementary School Tuesday night, but fortunately there was no damage.

Wawasee Community School Corp. Superintendent Tom Edington tells StaceyPageOnline.com that a motor on an air handling unit overheated “but worked exactly how it was supposed to.” Edington said that the motor is designed to shut off if it malfunctions and it did exactly that. “Nothing is foolproof, but in this case all of the safeguards worked.”

The Syracuse-Turkey Creek Fire Department was alerted to a problem shortly after 7 p.m. Upon entering the building, Edington described seeing white smoke and smelling what he called “a hot, electrical type of smell.”

It took fire fighters a short time to located the malfunctioned fan, which is meant to draw outside air in and heat or cool it appropriately. Large exhaust fans were used to air out the building and the fan will continue to be checked by WCSC maintenance personnel throughout the night until it can be repaired.

Edington concluded, “Our number one concern is for the safety of all of the occupants, and in this case, we are just glad it’s summer and no one was hurt.”