Crime & Safety
Midtown High-Rise Fire Prompts Building Evacuation
A commercial debris fire and foul odor resulted in a massive response from the fire department Monday afternoon.
MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — A 46-story office building in Midtown Manhattan was evacuated Monday afternoon after commercial debris located between two buildings on Sixth Avenue near West 53rd Street caught fire.
People at 1301 Sixth Avenue were evacuated around 11 a.m. as firefighters arrived to battle a blaze on the building's 17th floor, according to the FDNY. Nobody was injured during the fire or the response an FDNY spokesman told Patch.
One person who was evacuated told Patch they were told to leave the building due to a foul odor, not because of smoke. (For more fire updates and other Midtown Manhattan news delivered straight to your inbox sign up for Patch's free newsletter and news alerts.)
Find out what's happening in Midtown-Hell's Kitchenfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The fire was reported to be under control by 12:47 p.m., an FDNY spokesman told Patch. Twenty-six units containing 84 fire and EMS personnel responded to the fire, the spokesman said. Witnesses said that firetrucks stretched at least two city blocks.
Intersting #monday - building evacuated and it looks like half of the #nyc #firedepartments here pic.twitter.com/vvrZ6UMdwe
— Kristine Bonner (@bonbons40) March 13, 2017
MAN ALL HANDS 1301 6 AVE, COMMERCIAL DEBRIS ON FIRE BETWEEN TWO BUILDINGS, OPERATING FROM SETBACKS, UNDER CONTROL
— FDNYalerts (@FDNYAlerts) March 13, 2017
Something is up. Fire trucks lined up for two blocks with lights flashing but no sign of fire. 5 th Ave #newyork pic.twitter.com/HxfqGF1Hz1
— Mark O'Henly (@SeeClickFlash) March 13, 2017
This story will be updated with more details.
Find out what's happening in Midtown-Hell's Kitchenfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Photo courtesy of Mark O'Henly/Twitter
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