ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A fire broke out on the grounds of the Gateway Arch on Thursday, prompting officials to evacuate thousands of visitors from the famed St. Louis landmark.
Thick black smoke could be seen hovering over downtown for miles. No injuries were reported.
Officials at the National Park Service 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. A total of about 8,000 people were removed from the Arch and its grounds, superintendent Gary Easton said.
The fire apparently started at an electrical transformer about 50 feet from the Arch. The cause was not immediately known.
Easton said the transformer is one of three that provide power to the Arch. The museum and the Arch could be shut down up to three days for repairs, he said.
Petra Mikulcik, 23, of Vienna, Austria, was at the top of the Arch, peering over downtown St. Louis, when word began to spread of a fire. She was soon evacuated but said the removal of visitors was orderly and calm.
``It was scary, but we were thinking, 'what could happen?''' Mikulcik said.
The FBI was investigating since 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.
The Arch is part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial that commemorates the 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.
