Fire breaks out at Broadway’s Eugene O’Neill Theatre
By Jesse Zanger, Dave Carlin
Click here for updates on this story
NEW YORK (WCBS, WLNY) — Firefighters responded to Broadway’s Eugene O’Neill Theater Monday morning after a blaze broke out.
It happened around 10 a.m. and the fire quickly grew to three alarms.
Fire “very difficult to get to,” FDNY says
“The fire was in the electrical room, between floors four and five. Units entered the building, did a search and aggressively knocked down the fire,” FDNY Assistant Chief David Simms said. “After the fire was knocked down, more fire was discovered in an area between floors five and the roof.”
Simms called it a “deep seated fire” that “was very difficult to get to.”
One firefighter suffered a minor injury, Simms said.
“Everyone has been safely removed from the theater. We will keep all parties abreast of this developing situation,” Ambassador Theater Group said in a statement.
Simms said the building suffered “substantial damage” to the electrical room, and the Department of Buildings will be on hand to inspect it.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
The emergency response disrupted the heavily trafficked area near 49th Street and Eighth Avenue.
“Just loads of smoke out of the top”
Video from the scene showed firefighters climbing up their tower ladders onto the roof of the theater.
Clouds of smoke were also visible emerging from the roof.
“Just loads of smoke coming out of the top, and we were asked to come out of the hotel,” tourist Matt Oakley said. “Hopefully, there’s no one in there.”
The venue first opened in 1925, and has operated under a handful of names until 1959, when it was named after the playwright Eugene O’Neill.
The theater has been home to “The Book of Mormon” since 2011, when the show won nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It marked its 15th anniversary earlier this year.
There are no scheduled performances for the show Monday, and it’s not yet clear if the fire will have any impact on upcoming performances.
Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.