Flames burn and smoke billows from a fire at the 50th floor of Trump Tower. Source - Multiple
A fire broke out on the upper floors of Trump Tower in Manhattan, the home of President Trump.
The blaze broke out on the 50th floor of the tower just before 6pm. Thick black smoke billowed out from Trump Tower as burning debris fell on Fifth Avenue.
The 51-year-old male occupant of the apartment where the fire started, died after being transported to St. Luke's Hospital in critical condition, an NYPD source tells DailyMail.com.
A firefighter looks out from the window of a damaged apartment in Trump Tower in New York. Photo / AP
The NYPD says he was transported to Mount Sinai Roosevelt Hospital where he was pronounced deceased. They will release his identity once his family has been notified.
Four firefighters also sustained non-life threatening injuries.
Fire damage is seen on a side of Trump Tower. Photo / AP
A Fire Department of New York source tells DailyMail.com that the fire was a fourth alarm, with more than 200 fire firefighters tackling the huge blaze.
During a press conference at the scene, FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said "the apartment was virtually, entirely on fire" when firefighters arrived according to NBC4.
"They were knocking down the fire, they found one occupant," Nigro said.
"This was a very difficult fire. As you can imagine, the apartment is quite large, we are 50 stories up. The rest of the building had a considerable amount of smoke. 200 Firefighters and EMS members are on scene.
"We found fire on the 50th floor of the building. The apartment was entirely on fire. Members pushed in heroically, they were knocking down the fire," Nigro added.
The FDNY had to search several floors because of the smoke condition above the 50 floor.
The fire was finally declared under control at around 7:45pm.
Smoke rises from the 50th floor of Trump Tower. Photo / Getty Images
Melania Trump and the couple's son, Barron Trump, are both in Washington, D.C., according to the first lady's spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham.
The president is also in Washington D.C.
At least five fire trucks were seen responding to the fire on Fifth Avenue.
Trump has an office and home in the building.
At 6:42pm local time the president took to Twitter to share: "Fire at Trump Tower is out. Very confined (well built building). Firemen (and women) did a great job. THANK YOU!"
As of 6:55pm the FDNY said that they remained on scene. While the fire may be 'confined' firefighters will continue to battle the blaze until its determined to be under control.
Fire damage is seen on a side of Trump Tower. Photo / AP
Eric Trump also took to Twitter: "Thank you to the amazing men and women of the NYFD who extinguished a fire in a residential apartment at @TrumpTower. The @FDNY and @NYPD are truly some of the most incredible people anywhere!"
While the building was not evacuated some people chose to self-evacuate.
The streets around Trump Tower are closed on 5th Avenue between East 55th Street and East 57th Street. West 56th Street is closed from 5th Avenue to Madison Avenue.
The FDNY has called this a mass emergency response and is sending dozens of firetrucks to the 58 story skyscraper.
There was a minor fire just three months ago in a cooling tower on the roof of the Midtown skyscraper, in which two people suffered minor injuries.
"We had one minor injury to a firefighter, some debris fell on him," FDNY Chief Roger Sakowich said at the time. "We had one engineer that got up there with a fire extinguisher and breathed in some of the smoke, but he's refused medical."
