PANICKED shoppers and employees say there was pandemonium at Stockland Wendouree on Friday as they were evacuated due to a fire in the men's toilets.
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A hairdresser from the shopping centre said she was in the supermarket when she noticed thick black smoke "billowing" from the toilet entry.
ALSO THIS AFTERNOON:
"It was pretty scary, it (the smoke) was really pouring out of there," she said.
"People are saying someone lit a toilet roll in one of the cubicles.
"All of a sudden the fire alarms started and then over the loudspeaker we were told to evacuate.
"People were running for the exits."
Just Cuts manager Angela Fiumara said the situation had thrown Christmas shopping into chaos.
Thousands of shoppers were standing outside the centre on Friday, with emergency services on scene.
The evacuation occurred about 1.15pm.
Centre manager Stevie Wright said there was "a few thousand" shoppers evacuated.
"It's the week before Christmas so, as you'd expect, there were thousands of people in there," Ms Wright said.
She said police would view CCTV footage to identify the person who lit several toilet rolls on fire about 1.10pm.
The centre management was evaluating CO2 levels before letting anyone back in.
Retailers were let back in about 2pm, while shoppers entered shortly after.
Ms Wright praised her staff who managed to extinguish the blaze and congratulated emergency services for their swift response.