Boy Charged PMD At Void Deck Because Family Cannot Afford Electricity & It Caught Fire

By
Boon Hun
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Another week, another PMD fire.

This time, it’s a Power-Assisted Bicycle (or e-bike) and it happened at a void deck.

What Happened

On 27 July 2019, an e-bike broke out into fire at Blk 191’s void deck along Boon Lay Drive.

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About 20 people evacuated themselves from the building but thankfully, there were no reported injuries.

Several residents spotted the fire and managed to put it out with water before it could get out of control.

Charged E-Bike Using HDB’s Power Socket

According to TNP, a 36-year-old factory worker, Amani, told Lianhe Zaobao that the e-bike belongs to her son.

She said that she was unable to pay for the household’s electricity and her son decided to bring the unit down to charge at HDB’s socket instead.

Which you should not do.

Members of Parliament & experts interviewed agreed that using the HDB power sockets comes with cost and safety concerns.

Designated Areas Should Be Set Up

MP of West Coast GRC, Mr Patrick Tay, said that the government should consider having designated charging stations for PMDs in the residential area.

The idea, he explained, is similar to the charging stations for electric cars that are available today.

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And helping his people isn’t the only objective.

With these areas, he added, they can be equipped with “safety and security measures” to fight against PMD fires.

In fact, he felt that this could be a good solution to the PMD fires that are happening recently.

“It may be a better solution because when residents charge these devices in their homes, there could be items lying around that could pose as fire hazards.”

Fire Safety Standards of Device Still A Key

The experts on PABs and PMDs, however, felt that the most important key to solving the PMD fires is still safety standards.

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“The location or the electrical source doesn’t matter. As long as everyone abides by the regulations, the risk of such fires will decrease drastically.”

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is now considering to bring forward the deadline for the UL2272 fire safety standard due to recent fire incidents.

Meanwhile

While we’re waiting to see what steps the government will take to reduce PMD fires, here are a couple of tips you might want to know if you own a device:

  1. Use a certified PMD
  2. Don’t overcharge
  3. Use an approved battery charger
  4. Do not charge near combustible substances
  5. Charge it in the right place
  6. Inspect batteries regularly
  7. Never charge batteries immediately after riding

You can read the article here to find out more.

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Boon Hun
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