FBI agents and hazardous materials teams were investigating a residence inside a gated community in Irvine, California, on Feb. 26 after local police discovered suspicious materials inside.

Local and federal authorities are keeping a tight lid on what they found inside the home, but the discovery prompted them to dispatch a bomb squad and federal agents specializing in weapons of mass destruction.

The landlord called local police on Feb. 23 and reported suspicious circumstances at the home on Cartwheel near Iluna in the exclusive Altair neighborhood, according to the Irvine Police Department.

Firefighters also responded to assist in the investigation. Items found “required further investigation,” Irvine police said but provided no details.

The Orange County Fire Authority requested the FBI take over the case, officials said.

A spokesman for the fire authority was not authorized to discuss what fire crews found that prompted them to alert the FBI.

The FBI sent hazardous evidence response teams to the home, according to a spokesperson at its Los Angeles field office.

“The FBI continues to work this matter jointly with the Irvine Police Department, the Orange County Fire Authority and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department,” FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller told The Epoch Times. “There is no known threat to public safety.”

The investigation was ongoing and the FBI was not able to provide any additional information, Eimiller said.

No one has been ordered to evacuate.

The FBI’s evidence response teams and hazardous evidence response teams are deployed typically in complex cases that involve dangerous crimes, including terrorism and explosives handling, according to the bureau’s website.

The Irvine City Hall and Civic Center building on Oct. 12, 2020. Irvine police were the first to respond to a residence in an upscale community where they found "suspicious circumstances" that led to an FBI investigation on Feb. 23, 2026. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

“The Hazardous Evidence Response Team Program (HERT) program responds to incidents involving weapons of mass destruction and chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear materials (CBRN),” the FBI stated on a social media post in 2020. “HERT members are experts in hazardous evidence collection, crime scene management, and the processing of forensic evidence in CBRN crime scenes.”

Federal investigators were seen wearing protective coverings, boots, and respirators as the entered the garage Feb. 25.

A police bomb squad was also dispatched to the scene earlier in the investigation.

The multimillion-dollar four-bedroom home is across the street from a high school and adjacent to a park. It was last listed for rent in 2021 for $7,500, according to Zillow. The community is upscale, even for the wealthy community of Irvine, and comes with full-time security, pools, tennis courts, and other amenities.

The possible home-based chemical lab would be the latest residential biolab investigation for the FBI.

In January, federal authorities raided a Las Vegas home where they found evidence of an alleged biolab. More than 1,000 vials of materials are still undergoing tests to determine what was found at the home.