Fire alarm prompts evacuation of Rayburn office building in Washington, D.C.

By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

No pedestrian traffic outside the Rayburn House Office Building Tuesday afternoon after alarms sounded throughout the building./Photo by Melissa Gregory

Fire alarms prompted an emergency evacuation of the Rayburn House Office Building, which houses members of the Untied States House of Representatives.

KFEQ Farm Director Melissa Gregory, in Washington this week, says police cleared the building and wouldn’t allow anyone to enter for a couple of hours before the alert was lifted and work returned to normal. No threat was discovered. No one was hurt.

Capitol police indicate the alarms were tripped accidentally.

Gregory had been scheduled to interview central Missouri Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler in her office, located in the Rayburn building. After police cut off entrance to the building, the interview shifted to the Longworth House Office Building where it was conducted in the chambers behind where the House Agriculture Committee holds its hearings.