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Electrical fire forces evacuation at United Nations

By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (August 13, 8:11 p.m. PDT) - An electrical fire in a basement of U.N. headquarters forced the evacuation of hundreds of staff members Wednesday and injured one firefighter, U.N. and fire officials said.

Twelve New York fire trucks and 60 firefighters responded to the one-alarm fire after the initial call at 2:35 p.m., Fire Department spokesman Sean Johnson said. The blaze was declared under control within 45 minutes.

One firefighter was taken to Bellevue Hospital with minor injuries, he said.

The fire started in an electrical room in the second basement of the U.N. Secretariat building, U.N. officials said.

U.N. staff members were evacuated from the three basement floors, which include conference rooms, the post office, a popular cafe and U.N. maintenance shops and mail facilities.

U.N. security chief Michael McCann said there was no reason to evacuate any other part of the U.N. building.

In June 2002, the United Nations and the New York Fire Department conducted their first joint exercise, tackling a mock explosion and fire on the 26th floor to test communications and response times.

The 39-story U.N. headquarters building overlooking Manhattan's East River was reported to be a terrorist target following the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.