Putting out fire at Ayala mall in Cebu may take 2 more days

Authorities on Saturday said it may take two more days before fire out is declared at the burning Ayala Metro mall in Cebu City.

A 24 Oras report by Nico Sereno said that firefighters and fire volunteers have started creating holes on the wall of the mall's building to force the smoke out of the establishment.

The report said that according to investigators, the fire started from the toy warehouse located at the department store on the mall's third floor.

The fire broke out at around 9:30 p.m. Friday.

In a phone interview with GMA News Online, Fire Officer 1 Grace Colina said the fire was "ongoing" as of 8:30 p.m..

Colina said the fire has affected the department store area from the second floor up to the fifth floor.

The 24 Oras report said that the fourth floor has collapsed due to the extend of damage from the fire.

The cost of damage is expected to reach millions of pesos, the report added.

Colina, meanwhile, said members of Cebu City's fire bureau are having a hard time putting out the fire inside the department store because they do not have enough self-contained air breathing apparatus.

She said they are making sure that the fire will remained confined at the department store area by sending a team of firemen with self-contained air breathing apparatus.

He said each team can stay inside the affected area in a maximum of one hour. Each team has to get out of the mall to be substituted by another team, using the same apparatus.

No one has been reported injured.

Investigators have yet to determine the cause of the fire. —ALG, GMA News