NEW YORK, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- The American Museum of Natural History in New York was evacuated Friday afternoon after a fire was reported on the first floor.
The blaze was extinguished within half an hour of its being reported at 3:30 p.m., the Fire Department of New York said. There were no reports of injuries.
Visitors reported that sprinklers on the first floor went off. There was no word in late afternoon on whether any specimens or the structure was damaged.
"Everyone was evacuated safely after a smoke condition at the museum this afternoon," officials said on the museum's website.
An Educators Evening for Nature's Fury that had been scheduled for Friday night was canceled.
The museum was founded in 1869, and construction on the first building on its present site began five years later. There are now 27 connected buildings on two full city blocks on Central Park West that appear from the outside to be a single building.
