The Covington Fire Department responded to a small fire in the ceiling of Cousins Middle School Wednesday afternoon.

Students were evacuated before being moved to the gymnasium, located on the opposite side of the school from where firefighters were working. No one was hurt, and the evacuation lasted about 20 minutes

The smoke was caused by a component on an electrical panel melting, according to Covington Fire Department Fire Marshal Tony Smith. Three fire trucks responded and were gone a little after 4 p.m., before school was dismissed. No delays to bus dropoffs were caused by the incident.

Smith said the Newton County School System School system has already called a contractor to fix the issue with the panel.