The Hays Fire Department responded to a report of a building fire Sunday evening at 6:04 p.m. at Epworth Towers, 2800 Augusta Lane. The Ellis County Rural Fire Department was called to assist.

When firefighters arrived, they found smoke in the building due to the malfunction and overheating of elevator machinery in the six-story building, according to Fire Chief Gary Brown.

The equipment had not yet overheated to the point catching fire but it did cause significant amounts of smoke that activated the fire alarm system. Firefighters cut the power to the malfunctioning machinery to allow it to cool while exhausting smoke from the building.

Hays police officers evacuated residents to a nearby apartment building until the situation was brought under control.

Six fire trucks and twenty-six firefighters responded. The last fire crew left the scene at about 7:33 p.m.