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American Museum of Natural History Evacuated For Smoke

By Emily Frost | December 12, 2014 4:28pm | Updated on December 15, 2014 8:59am
 The American Museum of Natural History was evacuated on Dec. 12, 2014 after reports of a smokey condition.
The American Museum of Natural History was evacuated on Dec. 12, 2014 after reports of a smokey condition.
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DNAinfo/Emily Frost

UPPER WEST SIDE — Thousands of people were evacuated from the American Museum of Natural History Friday afternoon after smoke sparked by maintenance work outside the building spread through the first floor, fire and museum officials said.

The smoke was caused by a torch that maintenance workers were using while working on an air-conditioning unit outside the building, according to Joseph Schiralli, Deputy Chief First Division of the FDNY.

Fire officials said they responded after receiving a call around 3:25 p.m. and that the smoke had dissipated sometime after 4 p.m.

"It seems like the [air-conditioning] filters caught fire," Schiralli said. "The smoke traveled through the duct work."

The smoke, which Schiralli described as "pretty thick," moved toward the Hall of Northwest Coast Indians exhibit.

Ryan Rosenberg, 40, of Baltimore, was visiting the museum with his son, daughter and wife when the incident occurred.

"There were boxed lights on the ceiling that had smoke that was rolling out of them. It was heavy smoke," Rosenberg said. "The sprinklers came on and we got out."

Anne Canty, the senior vice president of marketing for the museum, said about 3,000 to 4,000 people were evacuated from the museum.

Witnesses said visitors were orderly as they left.

"An alarm went off and told everyone to evacuate and everyone was calm," said Phil Barden, 27, a student at the museum's Richard Gilder Graduate School, who was working on the museum's sixth floor. "There were lots of kids and families."

Officials said the exhibits were not damaged. While the sprinklers were eventually shut down by personnel, there was residual water left in the museum, Schiralli said.

No injuries were reported in the incident. Canty said the museum would be open Saturday morning.

— Additional reporting by Murray Weiss and Michael Ventura.