A fire broke out at the Moorpark College campus on Tuesday burning the inside of the gym.

“There was a fire in the Laundry room,” said Del Parker, physical education professor, who was on sight at the time. The fire broke out about 12:15 p.m. and the gym staff tried to put out the fire but they weren’t able to get it all the way out, so the staff called the fire department, said Parker.

According to the fire department, there are many ways the fire could have started, but fire fighters believe that the contents within a dryer caught fire, which is not an uncommon event.

“The college did a good job of evacuating the building and closing doors to prevent the fire from spreading to the rest of the building,” said Cpt. Charles Sullenburger of Station 42. “It was a small fire but it could have quickly turned bad. There are no sprinklers in the laundry room and if it wasn’t for the staff taking their preliminary precautions the whole gym could have gone up real quick.”

Students were kept outside while the fire department was on site, but the gym was reopened a few hours later. No one was hurt in the fire.

“It could have been a bad day for the college,” said Sullenburger. “But it looks like everyone knew what to do in case of such emergencies and was able to prevent it from getting out of control.”