BATON ROUGE- Officials say approximately 400 inmates at the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison had to be evacuated this afternoon after fires were reported.

According to the sheriff's office, at approximately 4:15 p.m. smoke was seen coming from the roofs of several buildings at the facility. Many inmates were evacuated into the prison yards while the Baton Rouge Fire Department extinguished the fires. 

"Preliminary investigations indicate that power surges to the air conditioning units caused the fires," the sheriff's office said in a release. "Inmates returned inside the facility at approximately 6:00 this evening after all fires were extinguished."

No injuries were reported.

Officials say the prison is on auxiliary power.