Hundreds of people were evacuated from a Lee County courthouse Monday after a smoke detector malfunctioned, triggering the fire alarm on a busy morning.
The fire alarm was set off at about 8:52 a.m., requiring the evacuation of the Lee County Circuit courthouse in Fort Myers. The six-story building was emptied after a smoke detector inside a fifth-floor evidence room went off, said Deputy Court Administrator Ken Kellum.
"At this point, we don't know what caused it," Kellum said. "With the construction going on we occasionally get alarms going off. Once an alarm goes off, we have to clear the building."
Employees were allowed back in a few minutes after 9 a.m., with courthouse visitors and private practice lawyers slowly trickling inside starting about 10 minutes later.
Courtroom dockets were backed up because of the disruption. The courthouse was packed Monday with people attending criminal arraignments and criminal traffic arraignments, adding to the usual numbers of those appearing for first-appearance hearings and juvenile detention hearings, civil cases and other court business.
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