Smoke Scare Prompts Evacuation at County Courts Building

*Editor's note: An earlier note incorrectly identified the location of the St. Louis County Courts Building. It is located on Carondelet Avenue. This article has been updated to reflect the correct address.

An overheated elevator motor prompted a temporary smoke scare Tuesday afternoon at the in Clayton, an official said. There were no injuries.

It started in the machine room on the top of the building at 7900 Carondelet Ave.*, Assistant Fire Chief Paul Mercurio of the said. The room holds elevator motors and cabling.

The smoke from the overheated motor traveled down a dumbwaiter shaft that courts employees use to transport documents and onto the fifth floor of the courts building, Mercurio said. It's unclear why the motor overheated.

The first fire truck arrived at about 3:20 p.m. Tuesday, Mercurio said. Multiple agencies—Clayton, , University City and Maplewood—responded to the report. That's standard protocol because of the large size of the building.

By the time fire officials arrived, people were leaving the building.

"We were glad to see that the building was evacuated," Mercurio said.

Operations at the courthouse were back to normal between 15 and 20 minutes later.