A ceiling-mounted heater above a door in Freedom School shorted out Saturday night and produced a burned electrical odor.

Teacher Bryant Weber entered the building to return some folding chairs used at the prom earlier in the evening. He noticed the smell, checked around and determined the odor came from a ceiling-mounted heater.

Superintendent James Miller had been in the building 40 minutes earlier and had not noticed anything.

Weber called Miller and the Freedom Fire Department, and everybody was on scene within about 10 minutes. The call

to the fire department occurred about 8:40 pm.

Miller said, “We got lucky. The fuses had already blown on the heater and the smoke was minimal. The fire department tore off a bit of wallboard and had moved the heater outside the building in a very short time. They didn't have to squirt any water, but technically it was a fire.” He estimated the damage to be $500–$1,000 and did not believe there was residual odor damage to the rest of the building.

The location of the defective heater was near the library in the back.

Miller said the heater was old, probably installed when that section of the school was built. On Sunday he contacted the fire alarm company for an inspection that will occur on Tuesday. He's also called the electricians who will check everything out to make sure the circuitry is good to go.