A teacher and 16-year-old student suffered minor smoke inhalation yesterday when a heating unit caught fire inside a shop class at Lee-Davis High School in Mechanicsville.

The teacher and male student, whose identities were not released, were taken to Memorial Regional Medical Center, said Hanover County Battalion Chief Chris Slemp.

"It was some real minor smoke inhalation," Slemp said. They were taken to the hospital "more or less to be checked than anything else."

Hanover fire crews were alerted at 12:35 p.m. after the teacher and student noticed flames coming from duct work near the heating unit, which is about 15 feet off the ground. There are four of the units suspended from the ceiling in the classroom, Slemp said.

The teacher and student tried putting out the blaze with fire extinguishers before fleeing the classroom, Slemp said. The entire school was evacuated as a precaution.

"There was still some active fire" when the first fire crews arrived, Slemp said, and they quickly extinguished the remaining flames.

Damage, mostly from smoke, was contained to the shop area. Slemp estimated the loss at about $25,000.

Classes resumed within an hour, he said.

-- Mark Bowes