Maybe this is why Time Inc.’s Chief Content Officer Norm Pearlstine was in such a hurry to leave Arianna Huffington’s book party at Steve Rattner’s penthouse apartment Monday night.
Apparently a fire erupted in the basement of the Time & Life building right around the time he was retreating.
It triggered a massive response of fire engines — 26 units in all — lining Sixth Avenue shortly after 9 p.m. About 80 firefighters responded.
But FDNY eventually found the cause to be a carelessly discarded cigarette and extinguished the blaze in less than an hour, an FDNY spokesman said.