UPDATE: (8:10 p.m.) Firefighters evacuated the maternity wing at Anne Arundel Medical Center Monday, after a fire in a utility closet caused heavy smoke.

Fifteen people on the third floor—mothers with their newborns—were moved out of the Rebecca M. Clatanoff Pavilion to adjacent buildings, and two women who were in labor were evacuated from the second floor, fire department and hospital officials said.

In addition, AAMC reported on its website that it evacuated about 10 patients from the Women’s Surgical Unit on the first floor because of the smoke smell. They were relocated to the main hospital building.

Division Chief Michael Cox of the Anne Arundel County Fire Department said units responded at 5:44 p.m. to a fire that started in a utility closet. Firefighters extinguished it quickly, but heavy smoke remained in the building. There were about 60 firefighters on scene, Cox said.

He said the atrium was opened to allow smoke to dissipate, and they hoped to allow people back into the hospital within a few hours.

AAMC spokeswoman Lisa Beatty said the hospital remains open, but that any women going into labor should head to the main hospital entrance, where they will be directed to a new area for assessment and delivery.

The corner of Jennifer Road and Medical Parkway was blocked by police and patients were asked to find a different entrance to the hospital.