Truemors
UPDATE: (11:42am EST) Long after the fire was reported contained, fire trucks and rescue crews are still responding. The OEOB is just two blocks from my office and I can hear the sirens and horns bellowing as the equipment fights downtown D.C. traffic.
UPDATE: The smoke's reportedly all but stopped, but the building is likely to remain evacuated for the rest of the day.
The Eisenhower Executive Office Building, located next door to the White House, is currently on fire; a spokesman for the Fire Dept. says it started on the third floor in an area with electrical equipment. The building has been evacuated, there are no reports of injuries and firefighters are currently battling the blaze.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Firefighters battled thick smoke and flames inside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, next door to the White House, on Wednesday.
Smoke can be seen coming from a window at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on Wednesday.
Smoke could be seen from the White House driveway.
Video showed firefighters breaking a window and spraying flames with a hose.
A spokesman for the D.C.Fire Department said the fire started in an electrical closet or telephone bank area on the third floor.
Firefighters responded very quickly, said Alan Etter.
The building has been evacuated, and there was a lot of smoke associated with the fire, but there were no reports of injuries, he said.
The building, built between 1871 and 1888, is located across a driveway from the White House and houses the vice president's offices.
Also called the Old Executive Office Building, it was originally built for the State, War and Navy Departments and is an example of the French Second Empire style of architecture, according to a government Web site.
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