WASHINGTON – A fire broke out in a third-floor kitchen stove at the Pentagon Thursday morning and spread to ductwork that passed through the fourth and fifth floors to the roof, authorities said.
The blaze was quelled, said Arlington County Fire Department spokesman Tom Polera, but the process of cleaning up and checking the damaged area for hot spots was continuing, complicated by asbestos surrounding the ductwork.
Areas of the building near the ductwork were temporarily closed to keep personnel from possible contact with asbestos, Polera said.
No one was injured in the fire. Damage was estimated at $200,000.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was having a breakfast meeting with members of Congress in a part of the Pentagon unaffected by the fire, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. The fire did not disrupt Rumsfeld's schedule.
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