Pentagon lockdown ordered after hazardous materials incident

WASHINGTON: The Pentagon was placed under lockdown on Thursday after what fire and defence officials described as a hazardous materials incident linked to an air quality issue inside the building.

The Arlington County Fire Department said in a post on X that its teams, including its hazardous materials unit, were operating at the Pentagon in support of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency's Hazmat Team. The department did not disclose further details about the nature of the incident.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in an email that the building’s internal systems had detected a problem affecting air quality and that precautionary steps were being taken while officials assessed its significance.

"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,"

Parnell added that standard protective procedures had been activated, including an order for people in the affected area to remain in place, and said response teams were ready to assist occupants.

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.

According to CNN, citing unidentified sources, the building was under lockdown and several floors were evacuated. Floors two through five in corridors four through seven had been locked down. CNN also reported, citing another source, that emergency responders were seen wearing full gas masks and chemical protection suits.

Another message circulated by the Pentagon’s security team said more testing was required to identify the source of the issue, according to CNN.

The Pentagon, a five-sided building and one of the world’s largest office complexes, was previously struck during the September 11, 2001 attacks carried out by Al Qaeda.