NSA Logo (Photo : www.nsa.gov)
A fire and a bomb alert by a K-9 Sniffer dog recently prompted a White House lock-down as President Obama and members of his family prepared to leave for Selma, Ala., ABC news reported.
A bomb-alert was suspected when one of the K-9 Sniffer dogs alerted its handlers to a suspicious vehicle on the 16th Street of Constitution Avenue earlier this Saturday. The president's secret service was quick to respond an initiated a lock-down at 10.15 a.m.
In another incident a fire broke out at a food vendor cart just outside the perimeter of the White House. The blaze was contained by the fire department and there were no apparent injuries. The secret service cordoned Lafayette Square across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House using barricades and police tape to divert pedestrians and other visitors.
By noon, the secret service spokesman Brian Leary determined that the vehicle was not a threat and the streets around the White House were reopened for visitors. They however did not clarify whether the two incidents were related to each other.
The incidents come at a time when the secret service is increasingly pressured for higher security protocol standards in the light of their recent gaffes where a drone was found crashed on the White House lawn and a man is also said to have jumped through the secure White House fence and made it to the East room through the North Portico doors.
The president left for Selma, Alabama in a motorcade delayed by 50 minutes in contrast to his usual helicopter flight to Andrews Air Force Base where he boards the Air Force One. He was to give a speech commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Bloody Sunday March, a landmark civil rights movement in US history, New York Times reported.
Earlier in the day, the press reporters that gathered at the South Lawn to witness President Obama's departure said they heard a loud noise, after which the secret service moved them to briefing room and locked the doors.
