Orange County, Fl., Orange County Firefighters responded to Olympia High School, located at 4301 Apopka Vineland Rd. in West Orange County, for a smoking lithium battery in a classroom.

Fire crews arrived on the scene at 8:43 a.m.  Their primary concern was for life safety and immediately evacuated the building as a precautionary measure to protect the students and staff from the smoke. Personnel assigned to Special Operations Unit Squad 3 quickly removed the battery from the classroom and determined the situation was not hazardous.

The incident occurred in a science class as students were being instructed on how to build a robotic car that would use the battery. All staff and students were allowed to return to their classrooms within 10 minutes. No injuries were reported.

Firefighters assigned to the Special Operations units are proficient in mitigating hazardous materials and other specialty disciplines. Orange County Fire Rescue has three Special Operations Squad Units strategically placed throughout the county for rapid response.   

The battery was turned over to Risk Management at Olympia High School for proper disposal.