ALCOA, Tenn. (WATE) — A “small fire” in a middle school football locker room was reportedly caused by a washing machine Friday morning. The fire has been put out, and Alcoa City Schools said the only damage was to the appliance.

The school district shared an update on Facebook around 10:20 a.m. saying that all students were safe and that the fire had been contained and extinguished.

According to Alcoa City Schools, the small fire was at the middle school, downstairs in the football locker room.

In an update shared Friday afternoon, the school district said the only thing damaged in the fire was a washing machine.

In a voicemail message shared with the update, Director of Schools Rebecca Stone gave an update to parents. She stated that they started smelling smoke in the central office and parts of the middle school. They immediately began searching for the source of the smell, and while they were looking, the fire alarm went off.

“The middle school was cleared, all staff and students were cleared and out within minutes, the fire department was on site immediately and we found that a small fire was in the football locker room, which is in the basement of the middle school. Thankfully, the only damage was the washing machine that had caught fire. The firefighters cleared the machine from the area and ventilated the locker room,” Stone said.

The fire marshal checked the area to ensure the air quality was safe for staff and students to return before everyone returned to the building. According to stone, students were only outside the building for about 30 minutes and had returned to their regular schedule.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated.