Fire damages KC Art Institute ceramics room

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Kansas City firefighters say heat from kilns in the Kansas City Art Institute's ceramics building ignited ceiling rafters at the school.

The blaze was reported around 9:40 p.m. Saturday and was contained to the south end of the building.

The Kansas City Star reports all students and faculty members got out safely as smoke poured from the building.

The kilns were filled with student work for finals week, but school officials say the class that used the kilns on Saturday was an elective. That means the fire won't affect the work of ceramics majors whose projects were finished a week earlier.

An end-of-semester exhibit and sale in the building went on Sunday as planned.

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Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com