This morning, students and staff at Woodrow Wilson High School were evacuated as authorities investigated a suspicious package on campus. more ›

UPDATE (10:30 a.m.): The scene is all clear, and people are now being allowed back inside buildings in the area. more ›

D.C. Fire and EMS reports that an investigation of a suspicious package near the intersection of 4th and I Streets SW forced the precautionary evacuation of nearby Amidon-Bowen Elementary School. The scene has now been cleared. Police, along with hazmat and special operations teams, were investigating some unattended bags near the intersection. more ›

Police and fire officials have apparently evacuated the Washington Marriott hotel, located at 1221 22nd Street NW, due to an investigation into a potential chemical reaction. According to D.C. Fire and EMS' Twitter feed, HazMat workers are currently "working to mitigate [a] chemical reaction in [the] service area." 22nd Street near the hotel has been closed off for some time, though M Street is reportedly open to traffic. At this time, there have not been any injuries to guests at the hotel that we can report, but one EMS worker is being evaluated. more ›

The Library of Congress was partially evacuated around 9:10 a.m. today, after a fire alarm went off in a computer room inside the building. D.C. Fire and EMS reports that there was no fire found, but that emergency personnel are testing people for potential exposure to halogen inhalation. No injuries have been reported. Traffic in the immediate area around the Library has been closed to vehicles. DCist contributor Elisabeth Grant captured these images as she walked near the buildings at 1st and 2nd Streets and Independence and C Street SE. Elisabeth reports that Library workers told her that the disruption was "just a fire drill." UPDATE (10:40 a.m.): The Madison Building, which had been evacuated, has now been reopened. more ›

This week's steady rains appear to be to blame for a construction site in the 100 block of 15th Street SE being declared unstable this afternoon. Saturated ground there has caused the walls of a row of commercial buildings currently undergoing renovations to separate, according to D.C. Fire/EMS spokesperson Pete Piringer. Rescue crews responded to the scene at about 2:45 p.m., and made the call to evacuate the area, including several nearby commercial buildings at 112 and 115 15th Street SE, as well as 1500 Independence Ave. SE. No injuries have been reported. more ›

The Health and Human Services building at 200 Independence Ave. SW was evacuated shortly after 10 a.m. this morning after a small electrical explosion occurred in the building. No injuries and no fire resulted from the explosion, which happened in a penthouse electrical room and affected a transformer connected to the building's A/C system, according to D.C. Fire/EMS spokesperson Pete Piringer. The building was reportedly evacuated as a precaution due to the possibility of a secondary explosion. more ›

The AP reported that D.C. police are investigating a suspicious substance found near Gallaudet University, and that the Ballard North Hall dorm on campus has been evacuated as a result. The Post's Paul Duggan says both Ballard North and Ballard West have been evacuated, and the substance in question, six boxes of plant fertilizer and pesticide, plus a light bulb, was discovered in the duct work above an unoccupied room in the Ballard North building. Some reports describe the chemicals as "bomb-making materials", but Assistant D.C. Police Chief Patrick Burke told the Post there may be a less sinister reason the fertilizer was hidden there — police think it's possible that someone at the school was secretly growing marijuana. more ›