Bomb squad shuts down DC street for hours over suspicious device – that turns out to be a sex toy

That one probably wasn’t in the training manual.

First responders in Washington, D.C., got an unusual surprise on Wednesday when a suspicious package outside an area fire station turned out to be a sex toy.

The device was reported to officials around 7 a.m., after a bystander saw someone leave it in the trash near the Tenleytown fire station.

The individual with the object allegedly approached a member of the firehouse, then left the device, which could be seen with exposed wires, behind.

The encounter triggered a large emergency response, which shut down Wisconsin Avenue NW from 40th Street to Warren Street for nearly two hours.

The Washington Metropolitan Police Department’s bomb squad and K-9 unit cleared the item, which was first thought to be a thermos.

Police later described the object as an “electronic sex portable pump device.”

News photos showed a technician carrying a blue and black cylindrical object about the size of a large water bottle.

The Independent has contacted the police department for comment.

The area has been cleared and reopened to traffic.

Though today’s firehouse incident was a false alarm, the threats in the nation’s capital are very real.

Secret Service Director Sean Curran recently warned that threat levels facing the agency are “off the charts” in the current political climate.

Secret Service Director Sean Curran has revealed that the current threat level his agency faces is “off the charts,” blaming a political climate more volatile than anything he said he has seen over his 24-year career.

Around 10,000 threats have been made against government officials and Supreme Court justices so far in 2026, a 40 percent increase on the same period in 2025, he said last month.

Last November, a bomb threat temporarily halted flights at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Virginia.