Hazardous materials incident prompts Pentagon lockdown, officials say

A hazardous materials ​incident put the Pentagon on lockdown on ‌Thursday as fire officials investigated the air quality issue, defence and fire officials said.

The Arlington County Fire Department said in a post on X that it had units “including our Hazardous Materials Team” operating at the Pentagon during what it described as a “hazardous materials incident”.

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The fire department did not provide further details on the nature of the incident.

“The Pentagon has sophisticated systems to ​ensure the safety of the building and ​its occupants. Those systems have detected an ⁠air quality issue necessitating precautionary measures until we ​determine its significance,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in ​an email.

“The department is executing standard protection protocols, including a shelter-in-place order for the affected area. Response teams are ​in place and ready to support building occupants.”

The ​building was under lockdown, with people evacuated from several floors, ‌CNN ⁠reported, citing unidentified sources. Floors two through five in corridors four through seven have been locked down, CNN said, citing two sources.

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Another source reported seeing emergency ​responders ​wearing full ⁠gas masks and chemical protection suits, CNN said.

A message sent by the Pentagon’s ​security team said additional testing was ​needed ⁠to determine the source of the problem, according to CNN.

The five-sided Pentagon building, hit during the September ⁠11, ​2001, Al Qaeda attacks, is ​one of the world’s largest office buildings.