Video: DC Firefighters Battle 2-Alarm Blaze at Metro HQ

A two-alarm fire erupted at the headquarters of the Metro public transit system in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday.

Firefighters responded to the blaze at just before 6:30 a.m. at the building in the 600 block of 5th Street NW, WRC-TV reports. Once at the scene, crews encountered heavy black smoke and flames from the eighth floor of the headquarters, and a second alarm was sounded because of the size of the building.

"There was a considerable volume of fire when #DCsBravest arrived at Metro Headquarters," the fire department stated in an online update. "Despite these conditions in an 8 story square block building, fire was extinguished in a relatively short time."

Fire safety has been one of the reasons the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has tried to move out of its current headquarters, according to WRC.