A reported fire at the county jail in Coupeville Monday night led to the evacuation of the facility.

Hal Seligson, a Langley resident, was attending a meeting of the Island County Democrats in the commissioners’ hearing room in the basement of the Island County Annex. He said former Sheriff Mike Hawley came into the meeting before 7 p.m. and asked them to leave so prisoners could be brought into the building from the adjacent jail.

Seligson and others at the meeting, including state Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen and fellow candidates Patricia Terry and Angie Homola, regrouped at a nearby church for the rest of the meeting.