Smoke from a dryer vent in the laundry room of the Carson City Jail set off the fire alarm in the jail and adjoining courthouse Wednesday afternoon around 4:30 p.m.
Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong said the build-up of lint in the dryer is a common problem there.
He said the inmates are tasked with the laundry duties and are in charge of cleaning the lint traps as well.
“They don’t do it well enough,” he said. “It can cause a fire, but today it was just smoke.”
Inmates from the jail were not evacuated; however courthouse employees followed standard evacuation practices when the smoke alarm sounded.