At 1248 hours, the station was alerted with Charles 2 and Truck 7 for the fire alarm sounding at 28535 Three Notch Road at the Mechanicsville Elementary School. Initial reports advised of a heat detector for one of the HVAC units on the roof.

Fire Chief 2 arrived to find nothing evident from sides "Alpha" and "Delta" with the school evacuated. Engine 21 arrived and laid in from Three Notch. Engine 24 and Rescue Squad 2 arrived and units went to the roof to start investigating. A strong odor of electrical was evident in the school with the heaviest concentration in the gymnasium.

After checking all units, power was secured to the gym unit. Firefighters opened the unit and found burnt wiring along with a burnt switch on the unit.

The school was ventilated naturally and students were allowed back into the classrooms.

The scene was turned over to St. Mary's Board of Education Maintenance and units cleared.

Units operated for 30 minutes.