WASHINGTON, April 16 (Reuters) - An overnight fire forced the closure of the U.S. Agriculture Department complex on the National Mall and disrupted the flow of data to commodity markets, including a closely watched report on U.S. crop development, officials said on Monday.
The weekly crop progress report, ordinarily released on Monday afternoon, was rescheduled because of the blaze, which fire fighters put out. The report will now be released Tuesday at 4 p.m. EDT (2000 GMT).
The closure also delayed reports such as the weekly tally of grain inspected for export, a gauge of demand for U.S. crops.
No data was lost due to the fire, USDA spokesman Justin DeJong said. USDA employees were given administrative leave on Monday, but are expected to return on Tuesday.
"We do anticipate that the facilities will be open for business tomorrow," DeJong said.
Because of the fire, power was shut off to the South Building, the third-largest federal building, and internal USDA computer networks were shut down. Spokesmen said the shutdown disrupted work on the crop progress report, which usually receives reports from the field on Monday for compilation into a nationwide report with state-by-state data.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters at an unrelated conference in Washington, D.C., he has now relocated to the Forest Service building a block away from the USDA administration building.
