Manhattan fire that lit up social media is a two-alarm blaze
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New York fire and emergency crews responding Friday night to a fire near Rockefeller Center said the blaze was less serious than dramatic images shared by witnesses made it appear at first.
The first social media reports about the fire began around 9 p.m. Eastern time Friday with tweets showing pictures of flames and billowing black smoke.
The building is at 5th Avenue and West 49th Street in Manhattan, near Rockefeller Center.
Fire officials told the Associated Press that the blaze, which began in the basement of a six-story building around 8:45 p.m., had gone to a second alarm but that no injuries were reported.
The building is home to a TGI Friday’s restaurant.
A Fire Department spokesman said that flames spotted by witnesses were probably coming from a rooftop vent and that the building was not believed to be engulfed in flames.
The fire Friday night comes the day after a five-alarm blaze ripped through a Staten Island home and left 34 people injured, including 23 firefighters. More than 200 firefighters were called to the scene, and the fire took eight hours to bring under control.
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