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US Capitol fire: What happened at Rayburn building? Videos show firefighters present

A fire was reported in a trolley between the Rayburn House Office building and the U.S. Capitol, on Thursday, leaving one person injured. 

Updated on: Nov 21, 2025, 04:25:28 IST
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A fire broke out on a trolley between the Rayburn House Office building and the U.S. Capitol, in Washington DC on Thursday. A person was injured in the incident, as per ABC7 News.

A view of the US Capitol. (Bloomberg)
A view of the US Capitol. (Bloomberg)

It has now been identified as an electrical fire and has since been doused. However, prior to it, the blaze prompted road closures, as per reports. The trolley was moving from the Rayburn building when the fire broke out, local media reports said citing a Capitol police spokesperson.

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The injured who was hurt received treatment there itself, since the extent of injuries was minor. Reportedly no one on board the trolley was injured.

Visuals show massive response to fire

Videos showed numerous fire trucks present outside the US Capitol.

“Firefighters arriving to the Capitol responding to an incident in the Rayburn House Office building subway to the Capitol,” one person wrote on X. The second video showed firefighters move through the hallways in an effort to control the situation.

NBC News reporter Kyle Stewart noted that the Capitol Police said the fire was out but they continued to clear the smoke. He shared visuals of both the cart and the firefighters at the scene.

Another person shared videos and wrote “Scenes from Capitol Plaza as fire crews respond to reports of smoke in the subway connecting the US Capitol and Rayburn office building. The few of us on the plaza were asked to evacuate area to allow room to work after several minutes”.

The underground trolley is among the three lines that operate under the U.S. Capitol grounds for members of Congress and their staff. The other two lines run under the Russell and Dirkson Senate Office buildings.

The particular line under the Rayburn building has been operating since the 1960s, as per the Architect of the Capitol.

  • Shuvrajit Das Biswas
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    Shuvrajit Das Biswas

    Shuvrajit has over seven years of experience covering US, India, and world news. An English Literature postgraduate from Jadavpur University, Shuvrajit started off covering entertainment, gaming and all things pop culture. There were brief periods away from the media industry, with short stints in content marketing, ed-tech and academic editing. However, the newsroom beckoned and over the last few jobs, Shuvrajit has exceedingly focused on team functioning as well, including tracking news and assigning tasks, working on everyday breaking news, framing detailed coverage plans, and creating immersive and data-driven stories. In his time as a digital journalist, he has covered a Lok Sabha election, multiple state elections, Union Budgets and award ceremonies. He has also helped in planning content for company event panels in the past. For work, Shuvrajit enjoys dabbling with data visualization, editing tools, and AI chatbots and attempts to incorporate AI workflows in everyday tasks. He is deeply interested in geopolitics, sports, films and music. Prompting is a new fascination for Shuvrajit now. Apart from that, he can be found doom-scrolling, sharing memes, or cheering on his favorite football team.Read More

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