Fire at 60-Story Chase Building in N.Y. Injures Six

As stocks went down in flames Thursday, Chase Manhattan Corp. had another blaze to contend with.

A fire that apparently started in a generator atop its 60-story office tower in the heart of Manhattan's financial district forced the evacuation of almost 100 employees from the top two stories, including the executive dining suites, a bank spokesman said.

Six people had minor injuries, including one firefighter, said a spokesman for the New York City Fire Department.

Two of the injured were taken to nearby Beekman Hospital, the spokesman said.

An eyewitness said billows of black smoke began rising from the upper northeast corner of One Chase Plaza around 11:50 a.m. The fire was brought under control by 1:26 p.m. Elevator service was suspended for several hours.

The two-alarm fire brought nearly 200 firefighters and 50 trucks to the building, the fire department spokesman said. Its cause was under investigation, he said.

The 1961 building served as headquarters for Chase until its 1996 merger with Chemical Banking Corp.