Manhattan Citibank Branch Destroyed in Six-Alarm Fire

A 30-hour six-alarm fire ravaged a two-story Citibank branch in the Morningside Heights section of Manhattan over the weekend.

The fire engulfed and destroyed a branch located at 2861 Broadway near 111th street in Manhattan, just south of Columbia University. A Citigroup spokesman said that no Citibank employees were injured in the fire.

As of Monday afternoon Citibank had not yet been granted access to the site of the fire by the Fire Department of New York, the spokesman said.

"Once we are given access, we will evaluate the impact of the fire, and then reach out to impacted customers," the spokesman said. The branch offered safe deposit services, the statuses of which are uncertain until Citibank is granted access to the site. Safe deposit containers are often constructed to be fireproof.

According to news reports, the fire began at 5:20 a.m. on Saturday in the basement of a building at Broadway and West 111th street. The reports said that the roof and first floor partially collapsed before the fire was finally put under control at 11:55 a.m. on Sunday, injuring five firefighters and three civilians.

Mark D. Levine, a city councilman whose Upper Manhattan district includes Morningside Heights, said on Twitter Monday that the New York City Fire Marshal had opened an investigation into the cause of the fire, though there is no suspicion of foul play as of yet.

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