JACKSON TWP — A small fire in a fluorescent light fixture in the ceiling of the field house on Seneca Valley’s secondary campus caused minor damage and filled the building with smoke Wednesday night.

The fire, which occurred around 6:15 p.m., just as students were leaving football practice, was extinguished before firefighters arrived on scene, said Harmony Fire Chief Scott Garing. No one was injured.

Emergency crews spent about an hour checking the building’s ceiling to make sure no fire had spread to spaces between the building’s ceiling and roof, as well as using industrial-sized fans to blow smoke out of its rooms and hallways.

Garing said the fire damage to the building was minimal and contained to the area around the light fixture, which is located in a shower room and caught fire when the fluorescent light’s ballast failed, causing an electrical short.

Garing said the building would be usable again after the smoke was cleared.

Seneca Valley athletic director Heather Lewis said the field house is home to, among others, a weight room, equipment room, athletic training rooms and a coaches’ facility that are used by multiple sports teams at the district.

She said the fire was reported when students leaving the facility after football practice smelled an odor and saw smoke.