Another PMD Fire Breaks Out In Bukit Batok; Man & Baby Taken To Hospital

Once again, here’s another Personal Mobility Device (PMD) fire and two victims, one of whom is a female infant who is less than a year old.

This new convenience seems to be causing just as many problems even though you now don’t have to walk as much.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope that the technology improves so that there will be less of these unnecessary fires. Or maybe, the ban would come true.

In Bukit Batok, a man and an infant were rushed to hospital on Tuesday, 8 October 2019 because of smoke inhalation.

This was due to a fire likely caused by a PMD.

The fire charred one bedroom before the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) arrived at the scene and put it out with one water jet.

The fire started in a flat on the fifth floor of Block 416 at 10.40am. About 30 residents were evacuated from the building. The man is from the apartment that caught fire while the baby girl is from a flat on the sixth floor.

You can view the SCDF’s original Facebook post below:

SCDF PMD Safety Tips

Don’t

• Do not charge PMDs overnight
• Do not charge PMDs, Power-Assisted Bicycles (PABs) or batteries near combustible materials or escape paths
• Do not tamper, modify or repair a PMD or PAB on your own

Do

• Purchase PMDs with the UL2272 mark (Read More Here)
• Charge PMDs and PABs on hard, flat surfaces to enable optimal heat dissipation
• Check batteries for deformities such as bloating, corrosion or powdery residue

Disposing Non-UL2272 (Illegal) PMDs

From 1 July 2020 onwards, PMDs that are not UL2272-certified will not be allowed to be used in public.

You can refer to the OneMotoring site on the proper disposal of non-certified PMDs.