Two-alarm fire forces evacuation at Pentagon

Fire trucks line up outside the Pentagon.

By CNN Producer Chris Plante

ARLINGTON, Virginia (CNN) -- A two-alarm fire at the Pentagon Thursday caused hundreds of employees to evacuate as smoke billowed through one of the huge building's five sections.

There were no reports of injuries, and the fire appeared to be under control soon after it broke out.

Arlington County firefighters responded to the fire, which began in a dryer unit near one of the building's main cafeterias, Pentagon officials said. Smoke billowed out of a tunnel and into the building's five-acre courtyard, where the evacuated employees gathered as firefighters tried to knock down the flames.

The fire was in a sparsely populated area of the building. It burned adjacent to the area containing the United States military joint chiefs of staff work space, but did not affect it.

Some 24,000 people work in the Pentagon, which has 17.5 miles of hallways.

Though fires are not uncommon in the massive building, this one was larger than usual.