Man Caused Fire at AMK Police Station After He Threw Cigarette Butts in a Rubbish Bin

By
Rae Woo
-

We’ve all heard of the lyric: somebody call 911, the fire’s burning on the dance floor.

Okay, but what happens when the police station itself catches on fire?

Well, that’s what the mistake of this one man caused.

Man’s Inappropriate Disposal Of Cigarette Butts Caused Fire

Ganesan Shanmugam, 30, was a foreign air-conditioner maintenance worker from India.

One night, he and his colleague were dispatched to the Ang Mo Kio police station for maintenance work during the night shift.

Halfway through the maintenance work, Shanmugam stood outside the main switch room and suddenly felt the need to smoke.

Usually, people would leave the building to smoke, but he could not as it was raining heavily that night.

So he smoked right outside of the switch room, but what he failed to do was to ensure the cigarettes were properly disposed of.

He then caught sight of a garbage disposal dump nearby after he finished at around 11:45pm and discarded his used cigarettes into it without a second thought, thinking it had been extinguished.

As it contained paper boxes and other random items, you can probably guess what happened next when a still-lit cigarette gets thrown into the mix.

Yet, he and his colleague returned to the control room to take a break, unbeknownst to what was going to happen.

Walls, Ceiling, Floor, Air-Conditioning Were Burned

20 minutes later, his colleague smelled something burning in the air and alerted Shanmugam, leading the both of them to leave the room to check on what happened.

They returned to the spot where Shanmugam had discarded his cigarettes, only to be greeted with a blaze.

So the both of them decided to deal with it on their own, grabbing a fire extinguisher to put out the flames and even cleaning up the area thereafter.

Unfortunately for them, such a big blaze didn’t go unnoticed by the police as well, who arrived while they were doing so with firefighters in tow.

Shanmugam did not deny his involvement in the fire when they suspected he was the one who had caused it.

The damage caused by the fire extended to the air-conditioning fittings, as well as the walls, ceiling, and floor, which cost a total of S$5313.17 in reparation works.

ST Synthesis bore the entire cost of the works.

Negligently causing a fire can usually hold up to 18 months of jail with a fine, but the prosecution only decided on two weeks’ jail for Shanmugam, who showed his regret.

Shanmugam showed up at court looking nervous without a defence lawyer, telling the judge that he was afraid he could not bear the cost of a fine with his monthly salary of merely S$800 which he used to support his parents.

As an air-conditioning repairman, his neck had suffered long-term repercussions as a result of looking up often, and this incident only brought him further stress, he added.

He also expressed his remorse for his actions which he acknowledged, saying that he did not cause the fire on purpose but rather through negligence – and that it may be better for him to just be sent home to India.

On the 22nd of July, he was sentenced to 10 days of jail, which he will begin serving on Monday, 26 July.

Fire From Lit Cigarette Butts Could Be Lethal

There have also been multiple cases in the news regarding fires sparked from just one simple, innocent smoke break.

Back in Feb 2020, a man had passed away due to a fire breaking out in his own home.

The cause of the fire was said to be cigarette embers, and the SCDF concluded that the man had likely smoked on or near his mattress, which later caught on fire.

Yet another man had passed away as a result of a fire in a waste disposal facility in Mandai in September 2020.

Apparently, he had been smoking in the premises, where the cigarette butt may have mixed with the leaked fumes of air freshener bottles and causing a fire to break out.

It’s important to remember to always check if your cigarette butts have been extinguished properly after taking a puff, for this small action could save lives and property.

Or better yet, just quit smoking and you don’t have to worry about your cigarette butts turning into a fire hazard. Here are some unexpected ways to quit smoking:

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Rae Woo
Email: [email protected]