Fitness Machine Moved Outdoors After Catching Fire at High School

A burning battery in an elliptical machine at Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School prompted an evacuation of the gym area on Tuesday morning.

It happened just before 11 a.m. in a fitness room next to the gym, according to Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School Principal Eric Tracy.

The elliptical was not being used when the smoking battery was discovered, Tracy said, but had been used earlier in the day. The machines are used most days as part of physical education classes, he said.

The smoking machine was discovered when the class was returning from an activity outside.

“The gym teachers moved it outside,” Tracy said.

The burning rubber and plastic odor from the smoldering battery caused the gym area to be evacuated for about 45 minutes while firefighters from the Hamilton Fire Department helped ventilate the school. Other classes in the school were not impacted, Tracy said.

The machine was destroyed and will have to be replaced, he said. School officials will contact the manufacturer about a replacement, Tracy said.

The gym, which is part of the combined middle school-high school complex, meant that the remaining gym classes were held outside on Tuesday, said Miles River Middle School interim Principal John Hughes.

“It was quickly extinguished and at no time were students in danger,” Hughes said in a Connect-Ed message to parents.