White House West Wing Evacuated Due to Smoke

Image source: Peter Alexander, NBC News/@PeterAlexander

Part of the White House was evacuated Saturday morning because of smoke from an equipment malfunction.

Secret Service spokesman Max Milien told the Associated Press that smoke was seen coming out of a mechanical room closet on the first floor around 7 a.m.

The West Wing, including the press area, were evacuated out of an "abundance of caution," CNN reported. Five firetrucks responded to the scene, but departed before long. People were allowed back inside the building after about an hour.

A White House official later confirmed that an electrical transformer had malfunctioned and set off a smoke alarm. The transformer issue was quickly resolved, and the situation returned to normal. The president's family was not affected.

NBC News White House correspondent Peter Alexander had tweeted that there were firetrucks and that one guard said, "You gotta leave, there's smoke."

This post has been updated.