MACY’S FAMED FLAGSHIP STORE ON BROADWAY was evacuated Sunday afternoon when a fire broke out in an escalator between the 3rd and 4th floors. Shoppers were suddenly aware of the problem when they saw flames leaping out of the escalator shaft on the 4th-floor level and thick, black smoke started filling the sales floor around 4 pm.
Associated Press / Bondareff
The Wall Street Journal tells us:
Macy’s spokesman Jim Sluzewski said the fire, which he described as “small,” may have been caused by a motor in an escalator between the third and fourth floors. He said the “building was evacuated as a precaution” and that there were no injuries.
Much of the store was reopened before 6 p.m., he said. Portions of its Cellar, and first and second floors near Broadway Avenue will remain closed until Monday, he said.
The evacuation of the Herald Square store—billed as the world’s largest department store—came on one of the last big shopping days before Christmas. Macy’s, along with other retailers, was already grappling with a huge storm that dumped snow up and down the Eastern seaboard.
The dedicated shoppers waited and then poured back into the store to finish their buying. Macy’s says that damage to the store was slight with only a little bit of smoke damage to some of the merchandise. The Associated Press filed this video report:
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