SINGAPORE — A fire broke out in a kitchen at the Grand Hyatt Singapore on Wednesday (March 27).

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said the fire involved a kitchen stove and kitchen exhaust ducting at the mezza9 restaurant, located on the hotel's mezzanine floor.

The fire was reported at 11.10am and was extinguished by the hotel's water sprinklers prior to SCDF's arrival.

There were no reported injuries and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

As a precaution, about 500 people were evacuated from the premises by security personnel.

Two water jets were used to damp down — or wet — the ducting, to prevent fire rekindling from hot burnt surfaces.

Earlier this afternoon, photos and videos circulating on social media showed grey smoke billowing out from the Grand Hyatt, which is located on Scotts Road.

A 48-year-old homemaker, Ms Tess Fernando, happened to be at Shaw Centre when she noticed smoke coming out from the direction of Scotts Square and the hotel.

“There was quite thick smoke billowing out. Then I heard sirens and saw fire trucks passing by. I went outside to check and confirmed it was the hotel,” she told TODAY.

The “smell was quite strong” but dissipated as she got closer to the hotel, added Ms Fernando. 

Ms Nadiah Yahyah, 41, who works at a jewellery boutique in the hotel, said the fire alarms sounded at around 11am.

“I was doing some work when I heard (the) alarm, but thought it was a false alarm. After a while, I saw people running out from the mezza9 restaurant, and then a second alarm triggered.”

She evacuated only after hearing the second alarm and saw "terrible" smoke coming out of the restaurant. When she re-entered the hotel after the fire was put out, her throat was affected by the lingering smoke, she added.

“Usually we have fire drills, but this is a lesson learned not to take (them) lightly,” she added.

TODAY understands that several events at the hotel were disrupted or had to be cancelled, including a product launch by Hoya Lens.

A spokeswoman from Hoya Lens said that their event was scheduled from about 8am to 1pm at the ballroom on the hotel's third floor and there were about 200 guests in attendance.

The fire alarm rang halfway through a presentation and all of the attendees had to evacuate.

The launch had to be cancelled as the hotel was not able to confirm when they could resume the event and the company did not want to keep its guests waiting, the spokeswoman added.

At 12.40pm, SCDF gave the all-clear for people to return to the hotel. All hotel operations are back to normal, except for mezza9, said Grand Hyatt in a statement.

"We extend our sincere apologies to our guests, associates and neighbours for the inconvenience caused by this incident," the hotel added.