PORTSMOUTH — Dozens of students and workers had to be evacuated from the Baypoint Residence and Conference Center on Anthony Road Thursday morning after smoke was spotted coming from one of the room’s ventilation system.

No one was injured in the incident and everyone returned to the building less than an hour later, after firefighters had checked things out.

Fire Chief Michael Cranson said someone from the Roger Williams University (RWU) building pulled a fire alarm after seeing smoke pour out of the ventilation system connected to the “Bridge” room to the right of the entrance.

“We responded down here and confirmed there was smoke coming out of that ventilation system,” Chief Cranson said. “We shut down all the units on the roof, did an investigation in the attic, and we determined that one of the motors in the attic’s blower system burned up.”

Chief Cranson joined Lt. Brian Baker and Firefighter Harrison Jones on the roof of the building where they inspected all eight ventilation units. 

“We were going around and shutting each one down and trying to check to see if a belt had burned up or something. Once we shut them all down, the problem stopped, but we still wanted to confirm what the problem was before we left,” the chief said.

RWU’s facilities staff immediately began the process of repairing the system, he said. 

“Everybody’s safe and all the smoke’s been removed,” Chief Cranson said.