The Lake Station/New Chicago Library is closed indefinitely after a small fire erupted Monday morning.

Lake Station Fire Chief Chuck Fazekas said the fire was triggered when the library’s boiler came on about 6:30 a.m., igniting nearby cardboard boxes and plastic buckets. He said the library’s smoke and heat alarm system notified its maintenance team, who called 911.

Fazekas said a police officer and a library maintenance worker, who both helped extinguish the small blaze, were treated for smoke inhalation at a local hospital.

“They had a lot of smoke inside the building,” said Fazekas, who added police officers and maintenance workers trained high chemical extinguishers on the fire.

“We used shovels to push it out the door,” he said of the debris.

He said the fire department recommended the library, at 2007 Central Ave., ensure no chemical residue could cause a breathing hazard. Fazekas said the fire department didn’t use water hoses on the fire.

He said there didn’t immediately appear to be a boiler malfunction, but the system was being checked.

The library, which is a branch in the Lake County Public Library system, doesn’t have a sprinkler system.

Fazekas said it wasn’t required when the library was built because it didn’t meet the square footage standard.

In a release, the Lake County Public Library acknowledged the branch suffered smoke damage to its collection and the building.

All of its events have been canceled.

Patrons were told to return items to other branch locations and watch for updates at lcplin.org

The library is immediately east of Lake Station City Hall, which suffered water damage in June when a pipe in its sprinkler system burst, flooding much of the building.

City Hall is still closed and city officials have brought in trailers to house city workers on-site until repairs are completed.

Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.