Empire State Building Fire: Transformer Sparks Blaze In Basement

NEW YORK, NY — Firefighters are operating at the scene of a fire on the basement level of the Empire State Building, an FDNY spokesperson told Patch.

The fire started around 2:20 p.m., the FDNY said, in a commercial space at 350 Fifth Avenue, the address for the iconic New York City tower. The basement level of the Empire State Building has been evacuated, an FDNY spokeswoman told Patch.

So far there are no known injuries, the spokeswoman said. As firefighters remain on scene traffic is being blocked on 5th Avenue between West 32nd and 34th streets, according to NYC Emergency Management.

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Empire State Building officials said that a "small electrical fire" was being investigated inside the building and that street level and above floors were not affected. The Empire State Building Observatory remained open during the fire, according to building management.

"Something's going on at Empire State Building," one Twitter user said. "Elevators smells like smoke. Fire engines outside."

Patch is looking for more info on this story and will update this post as we know more.

This is a developing story and will be updated.