A fire Thursday caused an undetermined amount of damage to Thiel College's Beeghly Gymnasia, Greenville firefighters said.

It took firefighters about an hour to extinguish the flames.

The fire started about 1 p.m. when someone placed a stack of towels on top of a clothes dryer without realizing the open flame heating element was located there without protective guards, firefighters said.

The Thiel staff tried to put out the fire with portable fire extinguishers until firefighters arrived to put out the fire and ventilate the building. Firefighters said several fire doors in the building were propped open, allowing smoke to travel throughout the building.

The building's fire alarm system malfunctioned. The alarm did not go off after several people pulled manual alarms while exiting the building, firefighters said.

Hempfield and West Salem township firefighters were on standby.