Robert Smalls middle school evacuated for smoke

Robert Smalls International Academy was briefly evacuated Tuesday afternoon after smoke was seen pouring from a utility closet off the gymnasium.

Students and staff were out of the Beaufort school for about half an hour at about 1:15 p.m., while fire officials checked the source of the smoke, Beaufort County School District spokesman Jim Foster said.

Preliminary indications are that it was a problem with the dryer in the utility closet, which is used to clean student athletic uniforms.

This story was originally published April 5, 2016 at 3:44 PM with the headline "Robert Smalls middle school evacuated for smoke."