A fire broke out in the sauna in State Gym just after 10:30 a.m. Sunday.

Michael Giles, director of recreation services, and Rich Higgins, deputy fire chief for the Ames Fire Department, said they do not yet know what caused the fire or how serious the damage is. The most visible damage was the smoke that filled the building.

Giles said that around the time smoke could be smelled, the fire alarm was triggered, alerting the fire department. Staff evacuated the 250 to 300 people in the gym in about three minutes, Giles said.

The fire department extinguished the fire immediately, then worked to take apart the sauna and take the materials outside of the building. Higgins said the department removes materials involved in a fire so they cannot continue to burn and damage a building.

Fire doors prevented the smoke from filling the skywalk and leaching into Beyer Hall. Giles said State Gym is evacuated two or three times a year because of false alarms, but said this is the first fire State Gym has experienced. 

Higgins said the fire department is working to ventilate the building by controlling the air flow and increasing the air pressure in the building. By opening only one door the smoke is forced out through one opening. 

Higgins and Giles said the next step after ventilation is investigating how the fire started. Giles said they will then determine how much damage, if any, was done. 

Giles said he is not yet sure how long State Gym will be closed, but Beyer Hall and Lied Recreation Athletic Center will remain open.