Upper floors of the North tower at Headquarters Plaza in Morristown were reopened shortly after noon on Thursday, after firefighters responded to an electrical fire reported between the 14th floor and penthouse level.
“We traced it to a short in electrical wiring,” Morristown Fire Chief Robert Flanagan said at the scene.
No injuries or property damage were reported, police said.
A security guard reported flames, which probably were sparks arcing from the wiring, the fire chief said. The call came in at 11:14 am and the office tower was partially evacuated by the building’s security staff.
Firefighters encountered smoky conditions. Power was shut down, and the sparking stopped, the chief said.
“There was just a little smoke. There was no fire to speak of,” said Ellaina Dreifach, senior property manager for Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, management firm for the Headquarters Plaza complex.
The malfunction occurred in the ceiling of the 14th floor, Dreifach said. The upper floors were being vented of smoke, and it was deemed safe for workers to return, she said.
The 14th floor is occupied; the uppermost 15th “penthouse” floor was not occupied during the incident, the fire chief said.
A faulty electrical box was the apparent cause of the fire, according to Police Lt. Stuart Greer. He said Speedwell Avenue briefly was closed between Spring Street and the Green. No injuries or property damage were reported, he said.
Morristown firefighters and police were assisted at the scene by the Madison Fire Department’s Rapid Intervention Crew, and by emergency services personnel from the Atlantic Health System, Chief Flanagan said.
