Not quite the same as a blockade, but just as exciting...

Where I work on Mass and 3rd NE has it's share of sirens going by. So I thought nothing of it until I heard a second screaming vehicle go by in quick succession. When I looked out my window, I saw that the firetruck was laying hose on the road. Hmmm... And then we saw lots of people walking around our corner and down the sidewalk. Looked like an evacuation! So we ran down the hallway to the front side window, and Kevin our IT guy said he saw smoke coming out of the tall building next door. So of course we had to go outside and gawk. The fire crew had hoisted 3 ladders over to the 5 story building under renovation and were chopping with axes into a vertical conduit that was leaking smoke and discoloring the top floor exterior wall. Some bursts of material came out - my theory is it was some kind of flame retardant foam bits that were flying out - and that was about all there was for excitement. But good to know the DC fire department is on top of things - they had sent out at least 6 trucks to handle the emergency.