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Fire at Waldorf-Astoria Injures Three Workers

By DNAinfo Staff on August 4, 2011 4:25pm  | Updated on August 4, 2011 5:29pm

Firefighters responded to fire at the Waldorf Astoria hotel on Thursday, August 4.
Firefighters responded to fire at the Waldorf Astoria hotel on Thursday, August 4.
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DNAinfo/Ben Fractenberg

By Tom Liddy and Ben Fractenberg

MIDTOWN — Three Waldorf-Astoria employees were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation after an electrical fire broke out at the hotel Thursday afternoon, fire officials at the scene said.

The blaze erupted about 3:40 p.m. in one of the basement levels of the famed hotel on Lexington Avenue and East 50th Street, according to the FDNY.

Two of the workers suffering from smoke inhalation were considered to have only minor injuries, while a third was more severely affected. None of the workers were in life-threatening condition and all were taken to New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, according to fire officials.

Though the FDNY did not evacuate the building, some guests decided to leave on their own.

Laura Scott, 51, who was visiting the hotel from Houston, Texas, decided to take a walk after learning that the elevators were shut down and she would have to use the stairs to access her hotel room.

There was a "very faint smokey smell" in the lobby, she noted.

Sources said that the cause of the fire appeared to be a transformer.

The fire was deemed under control shortly before 5 p.m., firefighters at the scene said.