WASHINGTON -- Authorities said thousands of people were evacuated Wednesday from to Union Station after a chemical was released.
A respiratory irritant was released from an automatic fire extinguisher when a fryer became overheated at the McDonald's restaurant inside the station, D.C. Fire Department spokesman Alan Etter said.
Etter said the station was "jam-packed with people" who had to be relocated outside the station while the fire department cleared the chemical out of the air.
Amtrak said the station has been bustling with many inaugural revelers heading home.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
