Pentagon Locked Down During Hazmat Scare

Several floors of the Pentagon were locked down Thursday after a "hazardous materials" incident that turned out to be a false alarm. Hazmat crews and Arlington County Fire Department units responded late Thursday morning after the Pentagon's monitoring systems flagged an air-quality issue, prompting a shelter-in-place order for multiple floors and corridors, CBS News reports. Some areas were evacuated while others were told to stay put, and in-person meetings were shifted online as officials worked to determine whether there was any real threat.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell described the steps as precautionary, saying the building's air sensors had detected a possible problem that needed to be checked out. An all-clear was issued around 1:30pm Eastern, Fox News reports. "Subsequent testing confirmed no hazard exists, and normal operations have resumed," Parnell said. This was the first major Pentagon lockdown since a Pentagon police officer was killed in a stabbing outside the building in 2021. Fox reports that the Pentagon Shield program, launched after the 9/11 attacks, uses sensors and ventilation controls to detect and contain possible airborne threats inside the building.