Transformer fire forces evacuations at Gateway Arch

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Visitors were evacuated from the Gateway Arch in St. Louis Thursday after what appeared to be an electrical fire broke out at a transformer on the Arch grounds.

Thick black smoke could be seen hovering over downtown for miles. No injuries were reported.

Officials at the National Park Service, which operates the Arch, said visitors at the Museum of Westward Expansion beneath the Arch were evacuated, as were those who travel by tram to the top of the monument.

Memorial Drive was shutdown near the Arch grounds.

The fire broke out just before noon. The cause was not immediately known. The transformer is about 50 feet from the Arch.