Fire forces evacuation of Gateway Arch visitors

ST. LOUIS -- Thousands of tourists were evacuated from the Gateway Arch Thursday after a fire broke out at an electric transformer about 50 feet from the famed St. Louis landmark.

Thick black smoke could be seen hovering over downtown for miles. No one was hurt. The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

Officials at the National Park Service said visitors at the Museum of Westward Expansion beneath the Arch were evacuated, as were those waiting to take a tram to the top, and those already at the top of the Arch. A total of 7,000 or 8,000 people were evacuated, superintendent Gary Easton estimated.

Easton said the transformer is one of three that provide power to the Arch. He didn't know when the Arch would reopen, but said it would probably remain closed today.

"It all depends on how long it takes to bypass that equipment," he said.

The Arch is part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial that commemorates westward growth of the United States. The 630-foot-tall stainless steel monument was designed by architect Eero Saarinen. It opened in 1966 and is operated by the National Park Service.

Evacuated from the top

Petra Mikulcik, 23, of Vienna, Austria, was at the top of the Arch, peering through windows over downtown St. Louis, for about five minutes when word began to spread of a fire, and she spotted the smoke outside. The air conditioning went off and the small room at the top of the monument became stuffy. She and others were evacuated, 40 people at a time, on trams to the main floor, but said the evacuation was orderly and calm.

"It was scary, but we were thinking, 'What could happen?"' Mikulcik said.

The FBI and fire officials were investigating because national monuments such as the Arch have been cited as potential terrorism targets. But Easton said there was no reason to believe the fire was the result of anything other than a malfunction.

With helicopters hovering overhead and dozens of fire and emergency vehicles and park rangers stationed along the paths, evacuated tourists were remarkably calm.

Several who had been inside said the power went off momentarily, then alternative power kicked in. Easton said the Arch has backup power for just such emergencies.

"They did a really good job," said Lani Rohrig, 49, from Scituate, R.I.

She and her husband, visiting the Arch with a daughter and grandchildren, said they were waiting for the tram when they were told about a power outage. They said they didn't know about the fire until they got outside and saw a plume of smoke.