Singapore is a hot country, but four fires in seven days is a bit much.
At around 7am on Friday (19 Aug), a fire broke out in a three-room flat on the sixth storey of Block 3 Upper Aljunied Lane.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force stated that they were alerted to the fire at 7:05am, and subsequently extinguished the flames with a water jet.
Although the fire was mostly contained in the living room, the walls of the flat were charred and the unit sustained heat and smoke damage.
According to SCDF, three residents fled their homes on their own before the officers arrived, while 10 other people from nearby units had to be evacuated.
To veer on the safe side of caution, two residents were checked over by the medics, but both of them said that a trip to the hospital was not necessary.
The Origin of the Fire
The sole occupant of the affected flat is a 75-year-old woman by the name of Madam Teo Bong Chee.
Madam Teo recounted that she had ignited a candle in the praying altar after her morning exercise, but she did not anticipate that the small flame would cause such a huge fire.
She said that the candle was only lit for five minutes, adding that it was “very risky” and that it could have burned down her whole house.
After glancing through the photographs taken by The Straits Times of the affected Aljunied flat, and comparing it to the previous incidences of house fires, it should be noted that the flats were usually cluttered with furniture and various items.
Madam Teo’s flat was filled with piles of bags and clothes that could scale up to the windows. There were also spare home appliances like radios and fans, and stacks of newspapers spread across the three-room flat.
When noon rolled around, there were 14 rubbish chutes that were teeming with burnt items from the house.
The Neighbours’ Account
Depending on their proximity to the fire, the neighbours’ accounts varied.
For Madam Koh Ah Soon, aged 90, who lived two doors away from Madam Teo, she was still sleeping when her neighbour frantically knocked on her door to wake her up at 7am.
She mentioned that three firemen escorted her downstairs and told her to hold her breath when she passed by the burning flat so she would not inhale the fumes.
Whereas for another neighbour who lived at the end of the corridor, Mr Loo, he remained asleep throughout the entire ordeal.
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He told Straits Times reporters that he did not realise that a fire had broken out until later that morning. He commented about the horrible smell that was lingering around even though it had been hours since the fire was put out.
For the neighbours living near the affected unit, they were allowed to return to their own homes by 11:30am.
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This is the fourth fire in seven days.
Last Friday (12 Aug), a HDB flat in Toa Payoh went up in flames, and 50 residents had to be evacuated from the building.
On Tuesday morning (16 Aug), another unit in Jurong East caught fire, killing a 48-year-old man who happened to be one of the occupants of the house.
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The Jurong East flat caught fire again the next morning, likely because the deeply-seated embers under the debris rekindled despite the firefighters’ best efforts to dampen down the heated surfaces.
The SCDF would like to remind the public to refrain from leaving lighted materials such as candles, tealights and incense sticks unattended. Please extinguish the flames before leaving home.
Members of the public are also advised to avoid charging Personal Mobility Devices (PMD) overnight or overloading power sockets.
Lit cigarette butts should be properly disposed of as well.
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Featured Image: YouTube (The Straits Times)
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