FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, October 8, 2010
CONTACT OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
202-482-4883
Fire Prompts Closure of Commerce Department’s Herbert C. Hoover Building
Employees authorized to take administrative leave and encouraged to telework
A fire occurred between 8:00 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. Thursday evening on the third floor of the U.S. Commerce Department’s Herbert C. Hoover Building in an unoccupied room of an area being renovated. The building, located at Constitution Avenue and 14th Street Northwest, was evacuated, and the fire has been extinguished. Everyone is accounted for, and there were no reports of injuries.
Because of the fire, the Herbert C. Hoover Building will be closed Friday. Department of Commerce employees working there are authorized to take administrative leave and are encouraged to telework. Emergency-designated employees are to report for work.
UPDATE:
The building was safely evacuated with everyone
accounted for, with no complaints of injury or ill-effect reported. Air
sampling was conducted throughout the building, and all areas of the
building have been cleared for occupancy. The building can be accessed
by employees and contractors with PIV badges over the weekend, and will
officially reopen Tuesday morning, October 12, 2010.