By Nancy Huddleston

SAVAGE -- An air-conditioning unit at Prior Lake High School caught fire Thursday night, but there was no extensive damage inside the school.

Savage police officer Gene Miller was on routine patrol at about 9:10 p.m. and observed smoke coming from the roof of the building.

“Something didn’t look right to him so he got out to take a closer look,” said Savage Police Chief Rodney Seurer. “Right then, he heard a sizzle and a loud pop and flames started coming from the roof.”

The Savage Fire Department arrived within minutes of Miller’s call and put the fire out quickly. But although the flames were extingusihed, the roof was still hot, Seurer said.

So firefighters peeled back the roof membrane to look inside for more hot spots and also went inside the schools Blue Gym with the Cairns Iris helmet to find hidden hot spots in the ceiling. Seurer said more hot spots were observed visually and with the heat-seeking device and were quickly extinguished.

There were about 75 to 100 people inside the school when the fire broke out, Seurer said, noting a volleyball game had ended about 8:30 p.m. and the soccer team had just returned to the high school after an away game.

Three PLHS students who are involved with the Burnsville Police Explorers unit were at the school and helped police evacuate people from the building.

After the fire department determined the fire was out, the maintenance staff cleaned up water and debris in the blue gym, and as a result, there was no damage to the floor.

Prior Lake-Savage Area School District Communications Specialist Kristi Mussman said the Blue Gym is closed as a result of the fire, but the rest of the high school is open. She praised the quick work of the fire department as the reason the fire did not spread further.

Mussman said the district is not sure how much damage was caused, but the air-conditioning unit and roof over the blue gym will have to be replaced. The damage will not delay the start of school on Sept. 4.

Seurer said if Miller had not been patrolling the area and observed the smoke the fire could have caused more damage.

“It’s one of those ‘what if’ things where we don’t know if the kids or anyone else might have noticed the fire as quickly as Gene did,” the chief said.