Posted Jun 29, 2023 2:57pm ET
A smoke-scarred wall marks the aftermath of a basement fire at the Tiffany & Co. flagship store as Con Edison employees work on repairs Thursday, June 29, 2023 in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
NEW YORK — An electrical fire in a transformer serving the Tiffany & Co. store on New York’s Fifth Avenue spewed out thick gray smoke under the iconic building on Thursday, causing two minor injuries, officials said.
The fire did not spread to the store itself, but firefighters evacuated about 100 people from the building as a precaution, said Deputy Fire Chief Joseph Carlsen. Two people were slightly injured during the evacuation, Carlsen said.
The fire was reported just after 9:30 a.m. and was under control by noon, according to the fire department. Videos posted on social media showed smoke billowing from under the store, which reopened in April after a major renovation. The videos showed firefighters fighting the blaze with hoses.
Carlsen said the fire started in an underground transformer vault that powers the Tiffany Building.
Alfonso Quiroz, a spokesman for energy company Consolidated Edison, said the cause of the fire is under investigation. Quiroz said surrounding buildings did not lose power.
Made famous by the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany’s, the Fifth Avenue store is the flagship store of the luxury retailer founded in 1837 by jeweler Charles Lewis Tiffany. The company was acquired by LVMH in 2021.
The Tiffany Building is adjacent to Trump Tower, the headquarters of former President Donald Trump’s company.
A Tiffany spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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