Video: White House lockdown caused by small explosion & fire in food truck
Some excitement this morning after an explosion was heard and smoke rose over the area a block south of the White House. Secret Service ordered a lockdown as the DC Fire & EMS Department handled what turned out to be a burning vendor’s cart parked along the curb of 15th Street, NW between Pennsylvania Avenue and Constitution Avenue on the east side of The Ellipse (not at 15th and G, NW as the news media is reporting). At the same time a bomb dog alerted on a different vehicle around the corner on Constitution Avenue.
Time:
The White House was put on lockdown Saturday morning after a nearby food vendor cart suffered a small explosion, causing a security sweep before President Barack Obama and his family were about to leave for Selma, Alabama, according to a White House pool report.
Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary told The Associated Press around the same time, a bomb-sniffing dog detected something on a vehicle nearby.
D.C. fire officials said the fire was extinguished and one person was evaluated on the scene, but not transported to a hospital.
The fire at the vendor cart briefly delayed the departure of President Barack Obama and the first family to commemorate the historic 50th anniversary of the civil rights march in to Selma.
The White House press pool was out on the South Lawn for the departure when a loud explosion was heard, the pool report said. The Secret Service moved the press back into the White House and initiated a lockdown of the building.
Food truck fire forces brief White House lockdown http://t.co/phQiE3mcWH pic.twitter.com/MWeERCNFTt
— Washington DC News (@washdcnews) March 7, 2015
#BREAKINGNEWS: White House lock-down delays President Obama’s departure for Selma. http://t.co/AfmhDOGJGB pic.twitter.com/WXzK9hIuef
— NewsChannel 8 (@NewsChannel8) March 7, 2015
