As if the Houston Police crime lab didn’t have enough problems, it discovered a new one today: fire.

A small container caught fire on the same floor as the lab at HPD headquarters downtown this afternoon; as a result a half-dozen fire trucks converged on the building, three floors were evacuated and officials cordoned off two blocks of Travis.

And then the fire was put out with, ummm, a “a portable hand extinguisher,” HFD Assistant Chief K.J. Alexander told Hair Balls.

No word yet on the cause, but we’re not dismissing “burned microwave popcorn.”