By Don Rush

The word “indefinitely” was used to describe how long the Oxford Public Library, 530 Pontiac Rd., will be closed after a Nov. 23 roof fire.

According to Jaema Berman, Head of Adult Services at the library, the fire was noticed around 5:15 that night, “It was the dinner hour, so there weren’t too many patrons in the building. The smoke was coming out from all the lights in the ceiling and filled the building really fast. Within about 2 minutes it was full of smoke.”

Contacted the day after, Berman said the fire started at one of the library’s rooftop heating units. “Everyone was safely evacuated and the fire department came quickly and was able to extinguish the fire. However, the building was full of smoke. The restoration company is already on site to begin remediation, but it will take a while to clean everything.”

According to Oxford Assistant Fire Chief Matt Majestic, a rooftop HVAC unit malfunctioned. “The fire in the unit was quickly extinguished,” he said. “There was no physical damage to any contents of the library, however, there was a fair amount of smoke in the building whihc will take some time to get rid of the odor. A restoration team was on scene that night and were bringing in air scrubbers to help eliminate the odor. It was a tragedy definitely averted with quick response . . . an employee pulled one of the alarms stations near the young adult section.”

Berman reminded patrons Oxford library cards work at all the surrounding libraries so they can check materials out from them while the Oxford Library is closed. Patrons can use their library card to check out e-books through the Libby App on electronic devices.

“If you have library items checked out, please hold onto them until we’re open. We are extending the due dates of all items currently checked out so no one has to worry about overdue items,” she said. She also wanted patrons to know the fish in the giant fish tank inside the building’s entrance are “fine.”