US News

HOSTEL FIRE EVACUATION

About 250 tourists got a not-so-gritty taste of city life yesterday when a manhole fire on the Upper West Side forced them out of their youth hostel – and onto buses where they sipped hot cocoa and nibbled on sandwiches, officials said.

The blaze sent fumes into the Hostelling International-New York building on 104th Street at Amsterdam Avenue, known for its $29-a-night accommodations. Many young backpackers, hoping for some New York spirit, were forced into the cold, their vacation becoming a five-hour stay on a stationary MTA bus, where they received comfort food from the Red Cross.

The fire forced the travelers to cancel sightseeing trips, but they got face time with a major New York attraction – the city’s firefighters. “I didn’t have any burly firemen rescue me,” joked Elyse McKenzie, of Sydney, Australia. “I feel left out.”

Officials blamed the mess on salt, spread on snow and ice, that ate into underground cables.