By Olivia Scheck
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — A small construction fire broke out inside the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers Wednesday morning for the second time in three months.
FDNY Battalion Chief Jack Joyce said the fire started when a welder's torch sparked lint inside a laundry chute on the 20th floor. The workers were able to extinguish the flames using a garden hose, which they're required to have under fire code, before the fire could spread to other floors, according to Joyce.
Still, the smoke triggered fire alarms on the 20th and 21st floors, summoning a fleet of fire trucks and ambulances to the hotel on Seventh Avenue between West 52nd and 53rd Streets around 7:35 a.m., Joyce and fire officials said.
"When it's a big building like this we have to be safe," Joyce said.
There were no injuries and no one was evacuated for the fire, which yielded only "very light smoke," according to the battalion chief.
A similar incident occurred on Nov. 12, 2010, when a welding torch caused a more serious smoke condition, which spread to several floors of the hotel, sending many guests fleeing from the hotel in a panic.
Wednesday's fire did not appear to ignite a comparable frenzy. In fact, one guest, who was leaving his room on the 17th floor when the fire caused a temporary shutdown of the elevator service, joked that the incident might have been a good thing.
"The elevators weren't working, so this other guy and I decided to walk down…17 floors!" Panayiotis Lambropoulos, 34, an investment banker visiting from Chicago explained.
"I intended to go to the gym this morning [but didn't]…so I guess this was lucky."
