Police are cordoning off the Farragut West metro station in Washington D.C. following an explosion described as a large fireball. Police on the scene confirmed to witnesses that a transformer blew up.
Smoke is billowing from vents above metro tunnels underground. Judy Estey, who witnessed the blast, described a large fireball rising from the vents into an I Street sidewalk.
Witnesses say Homeland Security trucks have been present on the street all day, including before the blast, which could be heard from The Daily Caller headquarters half a block away.
The explanation of a transformer exploding quickly spread through the crowd and one police officer confirmed it to a passerby.
A second witness to the explosion, Simon Ogus, described it as rising 10 feet tall from the vents it escaped from.
Large number of police vehicles are on the scene now.
Update, 6:21 pm: A police officer on the scene said there were no injuries as a result of the explosion.
A spokesman for the D.C. police department said a manhole cover blew off and that power company Pepco was notified twenty minutes ago. “I can’t rule out anything,” the spokesman said about the cause of the blast.
UPDATES as they come.