WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – A package addressed to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano ignited yesterday at a postal facility in Washington, D.C. but was quickly extinguished and no one was injured, authorities said.
A postal worker was tossing mail into a bin when the package was discovered “popping, smoking and with a brief flash of fire,” Cathy Lanier, chief of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department, said during a news conference.
The package was addressed to Napolitano and was believed to be similar to others found in two incidents involving packages delivered to Maryland state offices on Thursday, a Department of Homeland Security official said. No one was seriously injured in those incidents.
“Initial reporting indicates this incident bears characteristics similar to the flaring package incidents at two Maryland state facilities yesterday,” the DHS official said.
Lanier and other officials declined to provide further details about the incident in Washington. Napolitano’s primary office is across town from the mail facility.
Security officials said the incidents were not believed to be the result of Islamist terrorism. Napolitano returned late Thursday from a weeklong trip to Afghanistan, Qatar, Israel and Belgium to discuss terrorism and transportation security.
Her office is about eight miles away from the mail facility, which screens and handles mail and packages sent to federal government agencies. It was set up in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and 2001 anthrax attack.