Pentagon lifts lockdown after air quality scare proves to be false alarm
The Pentagon is seen from a flight taking off from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on November 29, 2022 in Arlington, Virginia. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — A partial lockdown at the Pentagon implemented in response to a potential air quality issue has been lifted after no hazards were found, according to the Pentagon’s chief spokesman.
Portions of the Pentagon had gone into a shelter-in-place earlier Thursday, after officials locked down multiple floors and hallways in response to a potential air hazard situation, according to three officials.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement earlier that building monitoring systems detected an air-quality issue, prompting precautionary measures while officials work to determine the source and extent of the problem.
In an update Thursday, Parnell said subsequent testing “confirmed no hazard exists, and normal operations have resumed.”
Sources told ABC News earlier that authorities were investigating what caused a sensor to alert for a potential hazardous air quality issue at the Pentagon. Additional testing occurred to verify whether there was any hazard or if the sensor was faulty, multiple sources said.
In a message sent to Pentagon employees earlier Thursday, employees in certain corridors on select floors were urged to remain in place while awaiting testing results, which it noted could take one to two hours.
The Arlington County Fire Department said its hazardous materials team had responded to the Pentagon in support of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency’s Hazmat Team “during a hazardous materials incident.”
(NEW YORK) — A man with a history of anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity set off an “incendiary device” outside a Manhattan federal building that houses an immigration court, authorities said.
Video captured the moment the suspect poured a liquid and then ignited it outside 26 Federal Plaza, sparking a massive fire. FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Barnacle said the suspect used fireworks to set the blaze.
Two people — a federal employee and a civilian — suffered minor injuries and were treated and released, officials said.
Barnacle called it an “anti-government attack on a federal facility.” He said the suspect had an incendiary device, a pellet gun and a sign reading “ICE Off Our Streets.”
The suspect was taken into custody, the FBI said, and the FBI New York Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Flash flooding in Henry County, Indiana, caused this street to collapse, Aug. 12, 2026. (Henry County Sheriff’s Office)
(NEW YORK) — Amid floodwaters already up to the roofs of some homes and turning the streets of multiple cities into rushing rivers, Midwest residents are bracing for more severe storms on Thursday.
“When I looked out my window, I saw my fence floating past my window,” Karlie Frey, a resident of hard-hit Cambridge City, Indiana, told ABC Indianapolis affiliate station WRTV.
After being evacuated from her home on Wednesday via a rescue boat, Frey, who has lived in Cambridge City since 2009, said, “I’ve never seen it get this bad.”
Indiana, which recorded three storm-related deaths this week, was in the path of more severe storms expected to pound the Midwest on Thursday.
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun declared a statewide disaster emergency on Thursday.
“Hoosiers’ safety is my top priority. Our state response is fully mobilized, resources are moving where they’re needed, and we will continue working around the clock to support every impacted community,” Braun said in a social media post on Thursday.
Braun is expected to meet with first responders in Cambridge City and survey the damage there to “ensure state resources are available to support the response and recovery efforts,” the governor’s office said in a statement.
Meanwhile, rescue operations resumed on Thursday for one person in Delaware County, Indiana, who was among four people who reportedly went into the Mississinewa River on Wednesday during significant flooding, authorities said. Three others were rescued from the river on Wednesday night, officials noted.
Flood watches also remained in effect in Iowa, Kentucky and North Carolina, where showers and storms are possible on Thursday, keeping the threat of more flooding in place.
Like in recent days, storms expected from Des Moines, Iowa, to Lexington, Kentucky, and Knoxville, Tennessee, have the potential to train, or remain stationary, over the same areas, and could produce rainfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour.
The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center said severe isolated storms on Thursday are expected to occur across Iowa and Illinois, including the cities of Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Springfield and Peoria.
The storms are expected to be accompanied by damaging winds, large hail and possible tornadoes.
Dangerous heat will also be a factor from the Midwest and Plains to the Southeast, all the way down to South Florida. More than 100 million people in over 15 states are under heat alerts on Thursday as a heat dome remains parked over the country’s Mid-South region.
Extreme heat warnings are in effect for Wichita, Kansas City, St. Louis and Paducah, Kentucky. Heat indices, which include humidity, will make it feel 111 in St. Louis and 110 in Kansas City.
Meanwhile, authorities are continuing to assess the damage from storms, floods, and at least five tornadoes, including three in southwest Chicago suburbs, that devastated the Midwest over the past two days.
Images from flooded areas of Cambridge City and elsewhere in Henry County showed floodwaters up to the roofs of some homes and many flooded streets impassable.
In an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Cambridge City Town Council President Jim McLane described the flood in his small town of 1,700 people as “pretty devastating.”
McLane said he has lived in the area for 60 years and had never seen flooding “anything remotely compared to this.” He said flood waters rose “several feet higher than most people have seen it here before.”
McLane described a seven-to-eight-block area of flooded homes in Cambridge City, and said dozens of people had to be rescued by boat.
Henry County Sheriff John Sproles said more than 50 people were rescued on Wednesday from a flooded apartment complex in Henry County.
Henry County officials are also investigating a possible tornado that moved through New Castle, Indiana, on Wednesday, toppling trees and ripping the roof off a commercial building.
Sproles said he is concerned about additional rainfall hitting the area.
“Any more rain is really going to put us into much more significant problems,” he said.
Eric Stiles, who owns a plumbing company in Indiana, posted a video this week of damage caused by severe storms that hit Munster, Indiana, on Tuesday. The footage showed a line of massive trees uprooted in one residential neighborhood.
“It’s like driving through a war zone,” Stiles said in the video.
Stock image of fire hose. (Visoot Uthairam/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Nearly 12,000 residents and over 2,000 structures have been evacuated after a wildfire broke out Tuesday in Washington state, spreading to 250 acres. No injuries have been reported.
The fire was 0% contained as of Tuesday night.
Officials said there “was an urgent need for evacuations,” in a press conference on Tuesday.
“Our teams are working hard to protect your homes. Stay out of the area. Please don’t come back, that makes it very challenging for our crews,” Spokane Fire District 9 Fire Chief Brian Mather said.
The active fire is expected to last a couple of days, according to Mather.
“Wind-driven fires are very, very dangerous. They’re dangerous to work in. They move very rapidly,” Mather said.
“We have a lot of fuel in that area, it’s a very densely populated area, and it’s tough conditions,” Mather said.
There are 10 to 15 aircraft assigned to the fire with more expected, officials said.
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson said he has been briefed on the fire and is monitoring the situation closely.
“I just requested a fire management assistance declaration from FEMA, which I expect to be approved this evening. This gives our state access to federal funding for extraordinary costs in fighting this fire,” he wrote in a post on X.
The fire started on Tuesday at around 12:30 p.m., according to Spokane County officials. A red flag warning was issued around 10:30 p.m. local time on Tuesday.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, the Spokane Fire District said.
