About 100 people were evacuated from the 3600 Centre on West Broad Street this evening after a fire in an escalator motor sent smoke billowing through the upper floors.
No one was hurt in the two-alarm blaze, which was reported at 6:42 p.m. A second alarm was sounded eight minutes later because of the size of the building and amount of smoke.
"We actually had smoke visible looking through the lobby when [the first crews] first arrived," said Richmond fire Lt. Michael Oprandy.
Firefighters encountered heavy smoke on the fourth floor. Further investigation revealed that an escalator motor had caught fire, and the flames were quickly contained, Oprandy said.
Smoke damage appeared minor, "but it did spread throughout the fourth and into the upper floors," Oprandy said.
Floors one, three and six were still occupied by office workers at the time of the alarm.
"When we arrived on the scene, they were self-evacuating," Oprandy said. "There were probably about 100 people left over late shift or working evenings."
The incident, which closed the westbound lanes of West Broad Street, was marked under control about 7:30 p.m.
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