MAC briefly closed due to overheating elevator motor

A “fire” at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture turned out to be an overheating elevator motor, a spokeswoman said Monday.

The MAC said on social media that visitors were evacuated “due to an unexpected fire” Saturday afternoon, but firefighters found only smoke in the elevator.

“It was a very minor thing,” said Carol Summers, the museum’s director of marketing and communications. “We closed for the afternoon because we wanted to err on the side of caution.”

No exhibits were damaged and the museum reopened Sunday. The elevator is being repaired.