Where there’s smoke, there was no fire at MUSD headquarters

There was a scare but ultimately no fire this morning at the Maricopa Unified School District administration building.

A fire alarm was reported at district offices, 44150 W. Maricopa-Casa Grande Hwy., that was upgraded to a working fire.

“There was some type of smoke,” Battalion Chief Will Sherwood of the Maricopa Fire Department said, adding that units from Maricopa and Phoenix were dispatched.

A person working inside the building told firefighters she saw smoke.

Firefighters used a pressurized water can and thermal imaging to investigate. Smoke appeared to originate in a workroom or a large office space with multiple workstations.

Upon entering the area, they saw no smoke, so firefighters used thermal-imaging cameras to try to find any heat sources. They searched the ceiling and roof but did not find anything that could have caused smoke.

“The human bodies were giving off more heat signature than anything else in there,” Sherwood said.

With no heat signature or smoke present, firefighters concluded there was no active fire and turned the building back over to MUSD.