Firefighters responded to a small fire Tuesday night at St. Columbia Catholic Church in Durango.

The fire was reported at 8:28 p.m. in the administrative building between the church and St. Columba School, 1801 East Second Ave.

The blaze started in a storage area that was designed to house an elevator, but the elevator was never installed, Hanks said. Storage items fell against a light bulb, which started the fire, she said.

Someone inside the building smelled smoke and reported the fire.

“Luckily, there were some people that were in the building, smelled the smoke and made the call,” Hanks said. “If there hadn’t been anybody in the building, that would have been an entirely different story.”

Occupants were able to douse the flames. Firefighters checked for hot spots and helped ventilate smoke.

shane@durangoherald.com