Students and teachers were evacuated from DCHS and DeKalb Middle School Tuesday after a fire started in a rooftop air conditioning unit at the high school.

Director of Schools Patrick Cripps said no one was injured and the students and teachers later returned to class.

“We had an air conditioner unit to catch on fire but the fire was pretty much contained to it,” said Cripps

Aaron Young, a school system maintenance employee, grabbed a fire extinguisher and put out the blaze as the Smithville Volunteer Fire Department was enroute.

Although the fire was in an AC unit on the high school building, Cripps said both the high school and middle school were evacuated as a precaution.

“Our first priority is to our students and Mr. (Randy) Jennings (DCHS Principal), the teachers, and administration did an excellent job of evacuating the students to make sure they were secure,” he said.

According to Director Cripps, the fire caused minor damage to the school roof and very little smoke penetrated into the building. “After making sure the students and teachers are safe then you have to start looking at your facilities to make sure they are okay. Our maintenance staff, Aaron Young, Earl Jared, and Dillon Hicks, along with Mr. Jennings and myself got up on the roof and checked it out. We discovered that the fire had melted the top membrane of the roof but there was no structural damage or anything of that nature. It was confined a very small section. The fire put out a little bit of smoke in the building but not too much. You could smell the scent of smoke a little but it never filled the building,” he said.

In addition to the Smithville Volunteer Fire Department, the Smithville Police Department, and DeKalb EMS responded.

“I want to thank the fire department, police department, EMS, and the utility companies for their quick response,” added Director Cripps.

DeKalb County voters will be heading to the polls today to nominate Democrats for six county offices and fourteen county commission seats.

Voting at all 15 precincts in the county will be from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m.

WJLE will have exclusive LIVE coverage of the local election returns starting at 7 p.m. on AM 1480/FM 101.7 and LIVE streaming at www.wjle.com. You may also follow the precinct results by clicking a link at www.wjle.com in local news once the polls close.

Voters will make their choices as to who will represent the Democratic party as nominees in the August General Election for the offices of Road Supervisor, County Mayor, Circuit Court Clerk, Sheriff, Register of Deeds, County Clerk, and for the county commission in each of the seven districts. There is no Democratic candidate for Trustee.

The primary will feature two county wide contested races for County Mayor and Circuit Court Clerk. There are four contested county commission district primary races including in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 7th districts.

The candidates for County Mayor are first term incumbent Tim Stribling, former three term incumbent Mike Foster, and two term incumbent 3rd District County Commissioner Bradley Hendrix. The winner will face Independent candidate Randy Paris in the August 2 County General Election. There is no Republican candidate for County Mayor.

Meanwhile Nicole Wright and Mark Milam are looking to become the party nominee for Circuit Court Clerk, a position Incumbent Katherine Pack, a democrat, has held since 2002. Pack is not seeking re-election to a fifth term. Wright works for Pack in the Circuit Court Clerk office. Milam has served as Constable of the 5th district for over 25 years. The winner of the primary will face Republican Susan Martin in the County General Election on August 2.

Other candidates in the May 1 DeKalb County Democratic Primary and the Republican and Independent opponents in the August 2 DeKalb County General Election are as follows:

COUNTY CLERK:
James L. (Jimmy) Poss—(Incumbent): Unopposed in May and August

SHERIFF:
Michael Agee-Unopposed in May. Agee will face Republican Incumbent Sheriff Patrick Ray on August 2

ROAD SUPERVISOR:
Jimmy Sprague- Unopposed in May. Sprague will face Republican Danny Hale on August 2

REGISTER OF DEEDS:
Jeff McMillen (Incumbent): Unopposed in May and August

TRUSTEE:
Republican Incumbent Sean Driver to be unopposed on August 2

COUNTY COMMISSION-FIRST DISTRICT (Two to be nominated in May)
Julie Young (Incumbent)-Unopposed in May
Dennis Slager-Unopposed in May
Republican Tom Chandler to be on the ballot with Slager and Young in August (Two to be elected in August)

COUNTY COMMISSION-SECOND DISTRICT (Two to be nominated in May)
Joe Johnson (Incumbent)
Nora Harvey
Myron Rhody
Republican Sabrina Farler to be on the ballot with the two Democratic nominees in August (Two to be elected in August)

COUNTY COMMISSION-THIRD DISTRICT (Two to be nominated in May)
Jack Barton (Incumbent)
Jenny Trapp
Bobby Johnson
Republican Renee Steff to be on the ballot with the two Democratic nominees in August (Two to be elected in August)

COUNTY COMMISSION-FOURTH DISTRICT (Two to be nominated in May)
Jonathan Norris (Incumbent)
Wayne Cantrell (Incumbent)
Dr. Scott Little
Bobby Taylor
Janice Fish-Stewart
Republican Greg Matthews to be on the ballot with the two Democratic nominees in August (Two to be elected in August)

COUNTY COMMISSION-FIFTH DISTRICT (Two to be nominated in May)
Anita Puckett (Incumbent) Unopposed in May
Lloyd Emmons Unopposed in May
Republican Incumbent Jerry Adcock and Independent candidate William Rutherford to be on the ballot with Puckett and Emmons in August (Two to be elected in August)

COUNTY COMMISSION-SIXTH DISTRICT (Two to be nominated in May)
Betty Atnip (Incumbent) Unopposed in May
Jeff Barnes (Incumbent) Unopposed in May
Republican candidate Matt Adcock to be on the ballot with Atnip and Barnes in August (Two to be elected in August)

COUNTY COMMISSION-SEVENTH DISTRICT(Two to be nominated in May)
Kevin Robinson (Incumbent)
Larry Summers (Incumbent
Beth Pafford
Republican candidate Bruce Malone to be on the ballot with the two Democratic nominees in August (Two to be elected in August)