By Justin Rocket Silverman
Newsday (New York)
Copyright 2006 Newsday, Inc.
A small rubbish fire caused the evacuation of the “World’s Largest Store” yesterday, as smoke filled the upper floors of Macy’s flagship at Herald Square in Manhattan and sent thousands of workers and customers scrambling for the exit.
“We started smelling smoke and then an order came over the loudspeaker to evacuate,” said Simon Lai, who was selling men’s suits on the third floor of the store when the fire alarm sounded at about 4:38 p.m. “The customers stayed very calm and we all went down the stairs together,” he said.
Reports of a high-rise fire went out over the FDNY radio, and 85 firefighters arrived within minutes to close off 34th Street around the store.
The fire started in the basement in an old elevator shaft used as a utility storage area, fire department Capt. Robert Carroll said. The shaft goes to the 10th floor, within the office part of the building above the store, and smoke rose to the 11th or 12th floors, Carroll said. Firefighters soon contained the small blaze. Investigators pulled burned wiring and insulation from the elevator shaft, but declined to speculate on the cause, which is still being investigated.Workers and customers were never in danger, Macy’s spokeswoman Elina Kazan said after the fire. The store reopened at about 6:15 p.m.