MELROSE Cabanada was strolling inside one of the busiest malls in Cebu to find a place to eat when she noticed people running towards the exits.
Then she noticed that thick smoke was already engulfing her.
“At first puti pa siya then nagkabaga na dayon and becomes darker,” Cabanada said. (At first the smoke was still light in color then it became thicker and darker)
Cabanada told Cebu Daily News that she started to panic when she saw the smoke.
But she said she was quickly relieved upon seeing firemen trying to put out the fire.
The Cebu City Fire Department received the fire alarm at 1:23 p.m.
The fire allegedly originated from Lamesa Grill, one of the restaurants on the lower ground floors of SM City Cebu.
According to Cebu City Fire Marshall Noel Nelson Ababon, the fire was placed under control at 1:56 p.m. and was declared fire out in less than 20 minutes.
“The origin of the fire is the exhaust duct,” Ababon said without further explanation.
He said they were still trying to determine the cause of the fire which damaged P30,000 worth of properties.
Due to the efficient handling of the situation by the mall’s management, no one was reported injured.
In a press statement, the management of SM City Cebu confirmed that a fire incident occurred involving one of their tenants located at the Northwing of the mall.
“Together with the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), our emergency response team immediately contained the situation, and no one was hurt throughout,” read the SM City Cebu statement.
“After the BFP gave the go signal and the clearing operations were done, the mall was back to its normal operations,” said the SM Management statement.