WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- A smoky fire erupted Wednesday in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House in Washington but no injuries were reported.
Fire officials said the blaze erupted in the third-floor ceremonial office kept by U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, apparently in an electrical closet or a phone bank, MSNBC, CNN and CBS reported. The building was evacuated.
Firefighters broke through windows of the historic building, built in 1871 and 1888, to hose down the fire. The building originally housed the Departments of State, War and Navy and was built in the French Second Empire style of architecture, the White House Web site said.
Homeland Security, the National Security Council, the Secret Service and other government agencies currently use the building.
