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Police and fire vehicles are seen along 15th Street NW in Washington near a vendor cart that caught on fire on March 7, 2015.(Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP)
WASHINGTON — White House security officers scrambled Saturday to investigate an apparent suspicious vehicle and a fire at a nearby vendor cart, prompting a lockdown on the mansion grounds.
Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary said a sniffer dog alerted on a vehicle in the 1600 block of Constitution Ave., earlier Saturday. The lockdown was put into effect about 10 a.m., about the time a vendor cart caught fire at 15th and G streets.
Leary said firefighters contained the blaze. There were no apparent injuries; it is not believed the two incidents were related. The Secret Service lifted the shutdown shortly before noon, when local streets were reopened, Leary said.
The incidents delayed by 50 minutes President Obama departure to Selma, Ala., where he and the First Family will join in the commemoration of 50th anniversary of the civil rights march there.
Earlier, a pool report said a loud noise was heard as media gathered outside near the South Lawn for the the president's departure, which was supposed to take place at 10:30 a.m.
Members of the U.S. Secret Service's Counter Assault Team are visible near their vehicles on the North Lawn of the White House, Saturday, March 7, 2015, in Washington. President Barack Obama and the first family were to travel Saturday to Selma, Ala., for the 50th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," a landmark event of the civil rights movement.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP)
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