Fire trucks ringed City Hall Wednesday afternoon, snarling Baltimore's rush hour traffic, after "light smoke" was discovered on the sixth floor of the historic building.
Fire Chief Kevin Cartwright said about 5 p.m. that the cause was under investigation. "At present all light smoke has dissipated and firefighters continue" to look for the source, he said.
Employees slowly left the building, with none of the urgency evident a day before, when an earthquake unnerved most in the city and led to mass evacuations from government and private buildings.
Howard County Executive Ken Ulman strolled out alongside Baltimore City Council member Robert Curran and chatted with reporters, though neither man had any details about the incident. A police helicopter circled overhead, and firefighters stood at the ready in full gear, with compressed air tanks strapped to their backs.