Fire breaks out in building near New York's Rockefeller Center

[June 07, 2014]  NEW YORK (Reuters) - A large fire broke out in the basement of a Manhattan building that sits a block away from the Rockefeller Center, fire officials said on Friday.

The fire was reported at around 8:45 p.m. (0045 GMT), said New York Fire Department spokesman Danny Glover, who added that no injuries had been reported. Within an hour, the blaze was upgraded to a three-alarm fire, according to the Fire Department's Twitter account.

People appeared to have been evacuated out of the building, Glover said. The structure, which houses a TGI Friday's restaurant on the first floor, stands six stories tall.

Pictures of the blaze posted to social media show flames shooting out from the roof of the building with onlookers below capturing the scene on their cell phones.

(Reporting by Curtis Skinner; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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