New York ? Hundreds of holiday shoppers were evacuated from the flagship Macy’s store at Herald Square on Sunday after a fire in an escalator spread smoke through the building.

The fire occurred in an escalator between the third and fourth floors, said Elina Kazan, a Macy’s spokeswoman. The sirens of numerous police and fire trucks on 34th Street blared long after the fire was reported at 4 p.m. on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

The smoke was so heavy at one point that passersby on the street could smell it.

One Macy’s employee was concerned about asthma but declined to go to the hospital and was back at work when the store reopened, Kazan said. No other injuries were reported.

The fire occurred as retail stores in Manhattan were attempting to recover from a foot of snow that fell on the city only hours before.