Major fire claims shops in Melbourne's popular Chapel St shopping strip Eyewitness captures moment blaze rips through the top floor of a Chapel St store in South Yarra SHOPPERS fled a fire in Chapel St that threw the popular South Yarra retail strip into chaos. The blaze began in a first-floor office about 3.15pm, setting off explosions and shattering windows. It quickly spread to up to six neighbouring businesses and sent up a plume of smoke. Police blocked off the street between Toorak and Commercial roads, creating traffic chaos. About 50 firefighters put out the blaze. The fire tore through several upper storey shops along Chapel St. Picture: hugh_sheridan/Instagram/Twitter Two suffered minor injuries battling the blaze. One was treated for a sprained ankle while another suffered minor steam burns. Power was reportedly cut to the entire affected strip during the emergency, as bystanders quickly took to social media to post pictures of the scene. Andrew Steele was holding a business meeting in Mode Apartments below when smoke started pouring into the room. "The smoke came pouring in then the fire started breaking out at the back of the shop," he said. Bystanders near the scene of the fire along Chapel St, South Yarra. Picture: Nathalie J. Berger/Twitter There were massive explosions and we just ran out. Glass was shattering and going on our heads, people were yelling at us to get out of there. Marcus Peters, who works for Biggin Scott, said: "The flames were really red and there was glass everywhere." Around six properties were affected by the fire, according to witnesses. Smoke rises above the popular Chapel St shopping district. Picture: Twitter/@SimonWakahang Were you there? Send us your pics. There had been concerns of a roof collapse, but there have been no reports of injuries. How bystanders saw the emergency on social media: