MANILA - Fire razed a portion of the office of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) at the Palacio del Gobernador in Intramuros, Manila on Sunday night, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said.

According to Atty. John Rex Laudiangco, acting Comelec spokesperson, the fire started at the reception area of the Information Technology Department at the 7th floor of the Comelec main office in Intramuros at around 6:48 p.m.

The incident was immediately reported to authorities and the Bureau of Fire Protection arrived at the scene and raised first alarm at around 6:53 p.m. It was raised to second alarm by 7:02 p.m., and was declared under control at around 8:05 p.m.

Based on initial assessment, Comelec said the fire was limited to the reception area of the IT department. Other offices and departments in the 7th floor of the building were safe from the fire.

All personnel were also safely evacuated and there were no reported injuries due to the incident.

Comelec also said all servers, vaults, equipment and documents are intact and undamaged. The same goes for all data such as the election results and data, which can still be accessed through the Comelec website.

All Voter's Registration Data, as well as all back-up are also safe and intact.

Comelec said all of its offices and departments in the main office at the Palacio del Gobernador will be working from home on Monday, August 1, with only a skeleton-work-force on site to conduct inventory, assessment and continue with their operations.