Smoke is billowing out of a Midtown Manhattan skyscraper that caught fire near the St. Patrick’s Day Parade route an hour before the festivities are set to kick off.

Footage shared by the New York City Fire Department showed plumes of black smoke rising from the building at East 43rd Street and Madison Avenue this morning.

Officials told Fox 5 the fire appears to be in an HVAC system on the roof of the building, and the cause remains under investigation as crews respond to the scene.

The city’s emergency management warned of traffic delays, road closures and mass transit disruptions while the FDNY battles the blaze.

The fire is just a block away from the St. Patrick’s Day Parade staging area on Vanderbilt Avenue.

The building was evacuated as well as the upper floors of nearby skyscrapers out of precaution.

One of the neighboring workers who was evacuated said he was stunned to see the heavy smoke.

‘It seemed like everyone and their mother was getting out of the building,’ the worker, named Chris, told amNewYork.

Firefighters are battling a blaze from a New York City skyscraper along the St. Patrick’s Day Parade route less than an hour before the festivities are set to kick off

Officials said the fire appears to be in an HVAC system on the roof of the building, and the cause remains under investigation as crews respond to the scene

‘I couldn’t tell if it was our building initially or if the smoke was coming out of the backside.’

This is a breaking news story.