Fire breaks out in White House office building

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    WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- A fire broke out Wednesday morning in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building of the White House compound, which houses the Vice President Dick Cheney's ceremonial offices.
    Firefighters used axes to break windows on the third floor of the ornate building shortly after the blaze broke out after 9 a.m.(1400 GMT).
    Within an hour, smoke had stopped pouring from the building.
    Cheney's working offices are in the West Wing of the White House, but he was not in the Eisenhower building at the time of the fire.
    MSNBC TV network said Cheney was with President George W. Bush in the Oval Office of the West Wing when the fire broke out.
    Scott Stanzel, a White House spokesman, said neither the president nor the vice president was evacuated from the White House compound.
    Bush later traveled to the Energy Department to sign the new energy bill as scheduled.
    The fire started in an electrical closet or telephone bank area on the third floor, Washington D.C. Fire Department spokesman Alan Etter said.
    The building was evacuated, and there was a lot of smoke associated with the fire, but there were no reports of injuries, he said.
    Etter said there are about 100 firefighters and 50 pieces of equipment on the scene.
    He said the fire is thought to be contained, but firefighters are checking to see if it spread beyond the ignition point.
    The Eisenhower building, built between 1871 and 1888, is also called the Old Executive Office Building.
    It was originally built for the State, War and Navy Departments and is an example of the French Second Empire style of architecture, according to a government Web site.
    The Eisenhower building is the site of a number of events, including eremonial signings, news conferences and photo opportunities.
    It now houses the ceremonial office of Vice President, the Office of Management and Budget and staff of the National Security Council and other White House agencies.
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