STEAM school smells smoke; West Richland students evacuated

Leona Libby Middle School was evacuated Monday after smoke from a malfunctioning light fixture got into the West Richland school’s ventilation system.

A LED emergency light in the east equipment room started smoldering shortly before noon.

“It appears that this light ballast failed and put out a large puff of smoke,” said Jeffrey Lettau, Richland School District’s director of facilities and operations.

Capt. Paul Carlyle with Benton County Fire District 4 said the smoke traveled into the nearby heating and cooling system and began to circulate inside the new school.

Teachers and students spotted the smoke and triggered the fire alarm. Firefighters from districts 2 and 4, along with Richland Fire Department, arrived minutes later.

Firefighters smelled smoke but couldn’t initially find the source, Carlyle said. A system in the school shut down the ventilation system to keep the smoke from spreading.

The school’s 690 students were moved into the school’s gym while firefighters and school officials brought the system back online. Students returned to class at 1:15 p.m.

No one was hurt and only the light was damaged.

The science, technology, engineering, arts and math centric school (STEAM) opened its doors in August and is the newest middle school in the Richland School District.

This story was originally published November 20, 2017 at 12:16 PM with the headline "STEAM school smells smoke; West Richland students evacuated."