For Reference: 9/11 Fire Near the White House Reported on in USA Today

USATODAY.com - 'I fear for my daughter'

WASHINGTON — In the nation's capital, a plane crash into the Pentagon and a fire near the White House forced evacuation of federal government buildings and sent workers rushing into the streets. One witness to the Pentagon crash said the plane appeared to be a commercial airliner that was accelerating as it approached. Gray smoke billowed from the five-sided building as more than 20,000 civilian and military men and women who work there streamed into surrounding parking lots, driven by blue-and-white strobe alarm lights and wailing sirens.
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Washington D.C. office workers react

Aydan Kizldrgli, a student from Turkey, was driving by the Pentagon when the plane hit, about 9:35 a.m. ET. "I was in the car, and there was a big boom," he said. "Everybody was in shock. I turned to the person in the next car and said, 'Did you see that?' Nobody could believe it."
Kizldrgli said he began walking aimlessly, ending up in Rosslyn, a commercial area just north of the Pentagon, about a half-hour later.
"The plane exploded after it hit, the tail came off and it began burning immediately. Within five minutes, police and emergency vehicles began arriving," said Vin Narayanan, a reporter at USA TODAY.com, who was driving near the Pentagon when the plane hit.
Before the plane hit, the scene at the Pentagon was already chaotic. Sheriff's deputies were screaming at people to move along quickly. "There's a hijacked plane two minutes away. We don't know where it's going to hit. Keep moving," they shouted.
Some of the people running from the Pentagon were in tears. One woman was crying as she yelled, "Brian is in there. Brian is in there. What are we going to do?"
Kim Dent, 33, who works across the street from the Pentagon, said she and some co-workers were looking out the window of their office building. "We saw the shadow of a plane. We heard the engine. We all said, 'That plane is flying kind of close.' "
Judy Rice, a tourist from Clearfield, Utah, visiting Washington with her 13-year-old daughter, Arianna, was trembling and on the verge of tears as she stood not far from the Pentagon. "I just don't know where to go,"she said. "I fear for my daughter. She's my youngest. All I want is to get away from the monuments."
Richard Benedetto, a USA TODAY reporter, saw the plane slam into the Pentagon. "It sounded like an artillery shell. It hit on the west side of the building, near the helipad."
Pentagon public information officer Glenn Flood said the Pentagon rehearsed small-scale evacuations in recent months, but, "We haven't had a rehearsal for anything like this." Flood said some Pentagon corridors were impassable because of damage. He said there were "heavy casualties," and he personally saw three bodies.
The U.S. Capitol was evacuated shortly after 9 a.m. ET, and officials were telling people to stay away from the building by 10:30 a.m. Senators and representatives were given the option of gathering at a secure place. Senator Charles Hagel, R-Neb., said, "This changes everything. We essentially have been attacked at home."
The White House ordered an evacuation of its complex (President Bush was out of town) and eyewitnesses said fire trucks surrounded the building.
More than a dozen fire engines could be seen around the White House. There was no access to Lafayette Square across Pennsylvania Avenue, which was being guarded by officers with sub-machine guns.