BATON ROUGE - Smoke filled the abandoned buildings of the old Glen Oaks Middle School site Thursday morning. 

The Baton Rouge Fire Department said crews responded to the fire around 11 a.m. at the former Glen Oaks Middle School campus on Monarch Avenue. Firefighters immediately requested help battling the fire, which had spread to the first and second story of a classroom building.

The school has been unused for several years. Officials said the school was vacant at the time of the fire and asked people to avoid the area during their response. 

The department said much of the fire was put out as of around 1:30 p.m., but they were still working to get it fully under control. Heavy equipment was brought in to help move debris at the most damaged portions of the site. 

The cause of the fire is still unknown.