Breaking News: Fire at Eisenhower Executive Office Building (Updated)
There is a large fire at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. This building houses the (ceremonial) Office of the Vice President, the Office of Management and Budget, and the National Security Council. According to ABC News everyone has been evacuated from the building. No word on the cause or extent of the fire.
More from CNN:
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Firefighters battled thick smoke and flames inside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, next door to the White House, on Wednesday.
Smoke could be seen from the White House driveway.
Video showed firefighters breaking a window and spraying flames with a hose.
From WJLA, ABC 7:
Thick black smoke billowed from windows of the Old Executive Office Building on the White House compound on Wednesday.
A fire appeared to be centered on the second floor of the building, which houses staff of the White House, National Security Council and other presidential agencies.
UPDATE From the Associated Press:
The blaze appeared to be located near the ceremonial office of Vice President Dick Cheney on the second floor of the building. The vice president was across the street in his office in the West Wing of the White House.
Secret Service spokesman Darrin Blackford said the Old Executive Office building was evacuated as a precaution. District of Columbia firefighters poured water on the blaze and moved furniture from the building onto a balcony.
UPDATE (James Joyner): I initially posted this separately and saw only later that Dave had posted.
My morning commute was delayed slightly because of the fire, since I work a few blocks from the scene. I heard about it on WTOP as I was driving in.
A fire at the Old Executive Office Building on the White House grounds is under control. “The fire is contained. It appears to be accidental at this time,” D.C. Fire and Rescue spokesman Alan Etter tells WTOP.
All 1,700 people who work in the building have been evacuated. No one has been injured, Etter says.
WTOP’s Capitol Hill Correspondent Dave McConnell, who is on the scene, says smoke has been billowing from a second story window. At one point, there was dark smoke coming from the building. The blaze appeared to be located near the ceremonial office of Vice President Dick Cheney. The vice president was across the street in his office in the West Wing of the White House. Television images showed firefighters breaking windows in offices where flames are clearly visible inside.
UPDATE (Dave Schuler)
The fire is now under control:
Cheney’s office was damaged by smoke and water from fire hoses, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said. The vice president was not in the building at the time; he was in the West Wing of the White House with President Bush.
More than 1,000 people who work in the building were evacuated. The fire broke out on the second floor of the building around about 9:15 a.m. and was under control within a half hour, District of Columbia fire department spokesman Alan Etter said.
Afterward, Bush and Cheney appeared on West Executive Avenue, between the White House and the damaged building, to thank District of Columbia firefighters. A fire tanker nearby still had its ladder extended to a window on the blackened second floor.
The blaze was located in Cheney’s suite of ceremonial offices. His working office is in the West Wing. Secret Service spokesman Darrin Blackford said the building was evacuated as a precaution. District of Columbia firefighters poured water on the blaze, broke windows and moved furniture onto a balcony.
There were no reports of serious injuries, Etter said. A U.S. Marine stationed at the building smashed a fifth-floor window to escape from the smoke and had to be rescued from the ledge, he said. The man suffered a minor cut to his hand.
The building remained evacuated while firefighters ventilated the smoke, Etter said. The displaced employees were sent to other offices or went home.
The extent of water, fire and smoke damage was unclear.
Now if they can get those whose offices are in the Old Executive Office Building under control, they’d have something.
Cheney and Condi burning their old files, I suppose.
Exactly–or perhaps another copy of the CIA torture video was sitting in Dick’s desk.
No, it was just the directories of liberals that needed to get hit. Since they’re now all memorized, the paper copies were redundant.
The burning of files is already beginning ahead of the subpoenas?
Cheney was just cleaning his hunting rifle.
Probably Cheney’s pants finally burst into flame.
The office of the vice president has been ruined during Cheney’s tenure! /snark