Officials on Saturday morning issued a haze alert in Cebu City as fire continued to raze a department store building of the Metro Ayala Center Cebu.

As of this posting, the thick smoke billowing from the building, which caught fire around 9:30 p.m. Friday, has enveloped the Cebu Business Park commercial area.

Nagiel Bañacia, head of the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, on Saturday issued an advisory to the public warning about health risks that fumes from the fire may pose.

Residents and motorists experienced very poor visibility in the area as firefighters continued operations to prevent the fire from reaching the main mall.

Traffic enforcers were deployed to direct vehicles while motorists needed to switch on their headlights and fog lights to prevent collision on roads where smoke had reached.

More than 13 hours since the fire started, the Bureau of Fire Protection has yet to declare the blaze under control.

The fire was known to have started at the department store's toy stockroom at the third floor then reached the sixth and topmost floor of the building.

Bañacia said the fire has destroyed the whole supermarket.

No one was reported injured in the blaze as all customers and mall employees were safely evacuated.

The fire was raised to Task Force Bravo on Saturday morning, prompting firefighting units from neighboring towns and cities to respond.

Heavy duty construction equipment, including a crane, were earlier used to demolish the building's concrete walls to clear the smoke and let firefighters douse the blaze.

• Fire hits Metro Ayala Center Cebu