A FIRE hit a restaurant inside a mall in Barangay Mabolo, Cebu City on Wednesday afternoon, May 23.
Firefighters rushed to the place after receiving the alarm at 1:23 p.m. Cebu City Disaster Risk and Reduction Management Office chief Nagiel Bañacia said the fire started in La Mesa Grill in the SM City Cebu North Wing.
Workers and mall goers were ushered outside the mall when the fire broke out for their safety.
The fire reportedly started in the heat transfer exhaust duct in the ceiling, according to investigator Senior Fire Officer 1 Rogelio Dabalos.
At 1:56 p.m., the flames were controlled from spreading to other tenants in the building. A fire-out was declared at 2:15 p.m.
Bañacia earlier said that the North Wing has been closed to all persons except responders. The rest of the mall is operational but no one was allowed inside until the toxic smoke had been cleared. The SM Cinema had also been closed due to the smoke.
SM City Cebu, in its official statement, said no one was hurt. The mall's emergency response team assisted the Bureau of Fire Protection personnel in putting out the fire.
"A joint investigation into the matter is currently ongoing. The mall is in normal operations," the statement read.
The damages to properties were pegged at P30,000. (KAL/VoxPop Cebu)