A fire broke out Wednesday morning in the Eisenhower Executive
Office Building of the White House compound, which houses the Vice
President Dick Cheney's ceremonial offices.
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A firetruck is parked
outside the White House after firefighters put out a fire near the
ceremonial office of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney in the
Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, December 19,
2007.
Firefighters used axes to break windows on the third floor of
the ornate building shortly after the blaze broke out after 9 a.m.
(1400 GMT).
Within an hour, smoke had stopped pouring from the building.
Cheney's working offices are in the West Wing of the White
House, but he was not in the Eisenhower building at the time of the
fire.
MSNBC TV network said Cheney was with President George W. Bush
in the Oval Office of the West Wing when the fire broke out.
Scott Stanzel, a White House spokesman, said neither the
president nor the vice president was evacuated from the White House
compound.
Bush later traveled to the Energy Department to sign the new
energy bill as scheduled.
The fire started in an electrical closet or telephone bank area
on the third floor, Washington D.C. Fire Department spokesman Alan
Etter said.
The building was evacuated, and there was a lot of smoke
associated with the fire, but there were no reports of injuries, he
said.
Etter said there are about 100 firefighters and 50 pieces of
equipment on the scene.
He said the fire is thought to be contained, but firefighters
are checking to see if it spread beyond the ignition point.
A Secret Service
officer keeps people back as smoke billows from the Eisenhower
Executive Office Buildings next to the White House in Washington
December 19, 2007. The building offices serves White House staff
and other executive related employees.
The Eisenhower building, built between 1871 and 1888, is 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.
The Eisenhower building is the site of a number of events,
including ceremonial signings, news conferences and photo
opportunities.
It now houses the ceremonial office of Vice President, the
Office of Management and Budget and staff of the National Security
Council and other White House agencies.
A firefighter walks
through the smoke as he fights a fire at the Eisenhower Executive
Office Building next to the White House in Washington, DC.
Emergency vehicles raced to the White House as a fire gushed thick
black smoke from windows of an office building near the West Wing,
which houses US President George W. Bush's office.
(Xinhua News Agency December 20, 2007)
