US Capitol goes into temporary lockdown after fire breaks out nearby
Jan 18, 2021
Washington DC [US], January 18 : Ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration day, the US Capitol Hill on Monday went into a temporary lockdown after a fire broke out under a nearby bridge.
The US Secret Service informed that the fire that prompted the lockdown was extinguished and there is no threat to the public.
"Public safety and law enforcement responded to a small fire in the area of 1st and F streets SE, Washington, D.C. that has been extinguished. Out of an abundance of caution the U.S. Capitol complex was temporarily shutdown. There is no threat to the public," US Secret Service tweeted.
The US Capitol and its surrounding areas have been turned into a military zone ahead of Biden's inauguration day on January 20. Elaborate security arrangements have been made in wake of the Capitol Hill riots, which has shaken the country's confidence and put scrutiny on law enforcement and safety in Washington.
According to a report by The Hill, seven-foot barriers have been staged around the Capitol and its office buildings, and the Supreme Court.
As many as 25,000 National Guard troops will be deployed, and many of them will be armed. Troops have been photographed sleeping in nearly every corner of the Capitol -- an inauguration preparation not seen since President Lincoln was set to take office amid the Civil War, the Hill said.
On January 6, a group of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol to protest legislators confirming Joe Biden's electoral victory in the presidential elections held in November 2020.
Five people died in the riot, including one police officer as well as one Air Force veteran and a Trump supporter who was shot dead by police.
Following the violence, the US House of Representatives last week impeached Trump for "inciting" the deadly violence at Capitol Hill on January 6, making him the first US President to be impeached twice. Congress voted 232 to 197 on the single article of impeachment charging Trump with "incitement of insurrection".
