BARBECUE AT TIFFANY'S
Electrical fire smokes out jewelry icon
An underground transformer erupted beneath the iconic Tiffany & Co. building in Midtown Thursday morning, engulfing the outside of the structure in thick gray smoke.
The blaze, which stemmed from an electrical vault, broke out around 9:30 a.m., causing plumes of heavy smoke to surround the newly refurbished building at Fifth Avenue and East 57th Street — located right next to Trump Tower — FDNY officials said.
“It was an underground transformer, either overheating or some type of electrical issue,” FDNY Battalion 8 Chief Richard Blasi told reporters.
“It’s an outside transformer fire, which had nothing to do with the [Tiffany’s building]. It was isolated. All we had to do was stand by and make sure there was no extension until ConEd cut the power to it.”
Blasi confirmed that no smoke entered the famed store, not even in the basement.
Firefighters evacuated about 100 people from the building as a precaution, with two suffering minor injuries during the process, Deputy Fire Chief Joseph Carlsen said.
About 150 firefighters responded, and crews put water on the smoldering transformer, Blasi said.
Firefighters could be seen spraying water into a grate just outside the front door of the building on 57th Street.
“It was an electrical fire,” Con Edison spokesman Alfonso Quiroz told The Post, noting the cause was being investigated.
“There appears to be some smoke damage to the building exterior but no reports of damage to the interior,” he added.
The fire broke out around 9:30 a.m. and was under control by noon, FDNY officials said.
The store, set to open at 10 a.m., was closed and there were no customers inside when the transformer erupted, according to a Tiffany & Co. maintenance worker.
“Smoke was coming out the front door by 9:30 a.m.,” the maintenance man said. “Firefighters turned up 10 minutes later.”
The store reopened in April following a major renovation.