LITTLETON - The students in the two portable classrooms at Lakeway Elementary School in Littleton were evacuated Tuesday morning after the odor of smoke spurred the school staff to activate the school safety plan.

At 9:57 a.m. Littleton Fire Rescue was dispatched to the school, arriving within three minutes. Littleton firefighters could find no smoke or fire in the building, but did detect smoke odor near the portables. They found the odor was coming from a roof-top heating unit, in which interior insulation had fallen on top of the heating coils. The insulation was smoldering.

With the assistance of school custodial staff, firefighters shut down the unit. The insulation was removed and the heating unit and air ducts were aired out. The unit was inspected and everything was back up and running within a short time, according to assistant principal Sally Russell, who said the fire and police department were very quick to respond.