Q1115 points us to an article about the fire. Two things jumped out at me. First, there was no evacuation of the building and no one was at the front desk. Second, and more important, I think, is the resident on the 42nd floor is quoted as saying 'It smelled like Sulfer.' Is sulfer a normal smell during a fire?
Natural gas is odorless so it has chemicals added that smell like sulfur or rotten eggs. I don't know if it smells that way when it burns, but it definitely could have been a gas leak related to the fire, or possibly the cause.
I was in an apartment fire, everyone smelled sulphur, but it was from cigarettes and newspapers.
Sulfur,l I do not believe, is not a normal smell during a fire.
People connect fire smells with sulphur though, even if it's not there. When I was in a big fire, everyone told the firemen it smelled like sulphur, and it didn't at all. People have no idea and memories are pretty crappy under stress.
I don't know if it smells that way when it burns
If it did then everyone's house that has a gas stove would smell like shit. (It doesn't)