Classes were canceled this morning at one area school due to a building issue, while another was evacuated.

District officials with Hartland Consolidated Schools said they smelled the odor of natural gas in the high school just before 7am. An initial decision was made to divert the students to nearby Ore Creek Middle School while the issue was investigated. But after an hour, the decision was made to call off classes for the day. Hartland Area Fire Authority responded, but cleared the scene after crews from Consumers Energy arrived to resolve the issue.

Meanwhile, students at Hilton Elementary School in Brighton had to be evacuated after a small fire in a mechanical mezzanine due to a pump overheating. Brighton Fire Chief Mike O’Brian says after the fire caused light smoke in the building, students were evacuated according to the district’s plan and remained outside while they got the smoke out of the building. They then returned to classes. (JK)