Raw video: Bus fire & MCI inside DC's 3rd Street Tunnel under The Mall.
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A fire this morning has shut down the 3rd Street Tunnel under The Mall near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. The fire on a school bus that was being towed is now out. Drivers and passengers in the tunnel were forced to abandon their vehicles and DC Fire & EMS Department crews evaluated many for smoke inhalation. Some, including police officers who assisted in the evacuation of the tunnel, have been transported.
A second alarm and mass casualty task force were dispatched.
Drivers are being escorted back to their cars after a school bus fire inside the 3rd Street Tunnel in Southwest closed the tunnel, forcing people to evacuate.
WTOP’s Neal Augenstein, who is on the scene, says about 60 people were removed from the tunnel after the fire was reported around 10:30 a.m.
Image via IAFF Local 36 Twitter feed.
D.C. Fire and EMS spokesperson Lon Walls says the bus was on a tow truck when the fire broke out. He says the blaze has been brought under control.
Police evacuated drivers who were behind the bus after smoke from it began wafting back.
One woman tells WTOP the incident brought on an asthma attack.
An empty school bus that was being towed caught fire in the northbound side of the 3rd Street Tunnel. The northbound and southbound sides of the 3rd St Tunnel are closed.
The fire was reported at approximately 10:30 a.m. Monday. Between 40 and 50 cars were in the tunnel at the time, say authorities, and the tunnel was filled with smoke. Some of the fumes from the fire made it into the ventilation system at the nearby D.C. courthouse.
Image via IAFF Local 36 Twitter feed.
About 30 people who abandoned their vehicles in the tunnel are waiting for a Metrobus to shelter them. The people describe a boom, followed by smoke and flames. the same people are praising police for their fast evacuation. There were no major injuries but at least one asthma attack.
DC Police are escorting people back to the tunnel via police cruisers to get their vehicles.
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