No injuries were reported when fire engulfed a five-story residential and commercial building in Chelsea Monday, authorities said.
Firefighters were called to the building on Ninth Avenue when the fire broke out shortly before 7 a.m.; it escalated to a two-alarm blaze before firefighters contained it after about an hour.
The preliminary investigation indicates the fire may have started in a duct in a Chinese restaurant in the building and spread to the upper floors. The flames were concentrated on the fourth and fifth floors of the building, authorities said. It wasn't clear what floor the restaurant was on.
Viewer video showed thick, blackish-gray plumes of smoke jutting into the cloudy sky as passersby stopped to gawk at the smoky building.
The extent of the damage to the building wasn't known.
The fire remains under investigation.
