MANILA, Philippines -- A warehouse storing chemicals was destroyed by fire in Muntinlupa City early Wednesday, police said.

Five hundred thousand pesos worth of property went up in smoke after fire gutted a warehouse of the chemical factory Zizmore Corp. on 31 RMT Compound, Barangay (Village) Tunasan, in Muntinlupa City, at 12:30 a.m.

Chief Inspector Roy Aguto, city fire marshall, said alert firefighters were able to put out the blaze an hour later before it spread to an adjacent storeroom containing drums of chemicals used in producing shampoo and other beauty products.

“We were lucky that our men were able to quickly stop the fire from spreading. If not, the fire could have lasted for several hours and left a bigger damage,” he said.

Aguto said they were still determining the cause of fire.